


Outfoxed

by klutzy34



Series: Foxy Danno [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Shifter Danny, Shifters, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-06-04 14:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6661864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzy34/pseuds/klutzy34
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU for <i>Like A Fox.</i></p><p>Steve McGarrett thought his life might get a little calmer once he established Five-0 and settled in one place for the first time in years. Instead, he becomes wrapped up in the mystery of a missing detective when he acquires a skittish fox shadow and makes friends with a little girl looking for her father.</p><p>An investigation into human smuggling left werefox Danny Williams stuck furry and on four legs. Now free of his captors, he's stuck figuring out how to get back to the life he once had while trying to figure out what it is about his old partner's new boss that keeps drawing him in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> _Like A Fox_ was supposed to be a one shot, fun little fic that ended up taking on a life of its own. While writing it, a few chapters started to head in the McDanno direction and since I wanted to keep that fic gen, all about the team friendships, I also wanted to write a McDanno version. 
> 
> This fic is a complete divergence from canon, a meeting in a whole new way.

Hell was a human mind trapped in a fox’s body. 

He stared bleakly at the bars of the cramped cage they kept him in, the sound of his cub’s laughter, the scent of the ocean and the feel of wet sand under his bare human toes almost as vivid after the dream as the day those memories took place. When they chose to let him sleep more than a few minutes, he dreamed of those simple days with Grace, building sandcastles, watching dolphins, eating macaroni and cheese while watching Jeopardy and shouting out wrong answers and pretending they were right. The few nights he had with her when she’d slip from the sofa bed and wiggle her way onto his cot with him, stealing his blankets to become a little cub cocoon by morning. 

How long had it been since he last saw her? Six, seven months? Somewhere after three, he quit counting. Instead, he counted the lives he’d taken in the name of survival, memorized the faces of the men and women that gathered around, screaming and cheering, hoping that one day, he’d look them in the face and they would know the absolute terror that he did every time they tossed him into the arena against something far bigger, stronger than he was. The pain of teeth and claws that sunk into his skin, tore at him for their entertainment. 

Maybe one day, they’d know.

Once upon a time, he’d been Detective Danny Williams, ex-husband, loving father, dedicated detective and general pain in the ass that very few members of HPD could stand. He was loud and voiced thoughts, wore his heart on his sleeve when it came to the important people in his life and shut up his own misery to keep them unburdened, rolled up his sleeves every morning and worked until well after the sun set. He fought, he loved, and once a month, on the full moons, he turned into a fox. An unfortunate meeting with another were, a _shifter_ as they were called, left him with a secret only Grace knew.

Well, Grace and now his captors. The people that wanted him gone, expected him gone in the first fight they threw him into, but they underestimated Danny’s desire to return home. The deaths weighed heavily on his mind but the idea of never returning to his cub - his _daughter_ \- weighed more. She was his everything, his heart and soul, the light in his life where there had been so much darkness in the last several years. The reason that he left everything he ever knew and moved across the country to an island in the middle of the Pacific, where ‘cheap’ was high end where he came from and death by coconut was more than likely. 

And as much as he wanted to return to Grace, there was also a part of him, selfishly, that just wanted to keep surviving to exist as a thorn in the side of the men who wanted to keep him from chasing them down.

Danny curled into a tighter ball in the corner of the cage, as far as he could get from the walkway. The heavy silver choke chain that bound him in that form scraped against the floor and he snarled under his breath. Even after all this time, just the mere twitch of the thing that dug into his neck sparked fight in him and he’d flop on his back as if he could wiggle it off, the links pulling at fur and skin until he was sore. 

The heavy door at the end of the hall opened, the bloodthirsty cheers of the fight’s well-connected customers indicating that someone, some _thing_ lay dying on the arena’s floor. Danny couldn’t find it within himself to give a shit. The only survival he could and would be invested in was his own. They’d already turned him into a monster just by forcing him to kill, to exist with a man’s mind, a fox’s instincts and body. If that was what it took to survive, so be it. 

The dueling, overwhelming scents of aftershave and expensive perfume made him hack and he stared up at the man and woman looking down at him. Gerard Bane, smuggler, associate of Victor Hesse, general despicable human being, grinned down at him and pulled his date, a Barbie blond that changed with every night, closer. “And this is the little fox that could,” he told her, eliciting a giggle at her. Danny’s eyes narrowed and his ears laid back. _Yeah, he’s a fucking hoot, lady. Until he’s got you fighting for your life too._ “Though after tonight, it might be the little fox that couldn’t.”

Try as he might, Danny was still perturbed at those words. He’d heard them several times, sure, and beat the odds each of those times, but as the opponents became bigger and meaner, the fights became harder and hard, taking a toll on his body. Who knew what Gerard had in store for him tonight? As he watched the man swipe a hand through the greasy black pompadour he favored, Danny made a snide chirp. _I had better hair game than you with one hand tied behind my back, you sleezy chump._ Better personality, better looks. The only thing Gerard could hang over him would be height.

With an expensive leather loafer, Gerard kicked the bars of the cage and Danny stared up at him impassively. If he thought that was still scary, it was a wonder he could even do business in the illegal arenas and still be taken seriously. “Hey.” His date tugged at his lapel. “If it dies tonight, can I have it for a coat?” She leaned into him, batting her eyes up at him.

 _First of all, how many foxes do you think it takes to make a coat, lady? Second of all, I’ll make sure I’m good and maimed before you ever get your hands on this gorgeous Jersey hide of mine._ The Jersey hide currently bearing more than a few scars. 

“Of course. I would be happy to,” Gerard promised, returning the eye bat with a skeevy wink. If they didn’t continue on their way, Danny would soon be giving what little dinner they allowed to the floor of the cage. “Now, there are a few people I’d like you to meet. Excellent clients of mine. Some of my best acquisitions have been from their gracious patron - “ Whatever else he said was lost as the cage suddenly moved and Danny tumbled face first into the bars, snarling at the handler. 

“Shut your yap, you giant rat. It’s time to lay down and die.” 

\--------

Chaos everywhere. Screams came from every direction, people running, uniformed men shining flashlights around, illumining assault weaponry. Danny spotted a few HPD vests, but the relief was short lived when he heard a call to watch out for the animals.

 _One of which he currently was._

The split second of distraction cost him and he barely scampered out of the boars way in time to avoid being gored. Zipping around the arena, he headed for his cage again, shoved into the opening between the walls, an idea forming. Ducking inside, he whirled around and let out a stream of aggressive chirps, snarls, and yelps, attracting the boar’s attention his way.

 _That’s right, you prehistoric reject. Your hide couldn’t make a decent football if they tanned it for a century, your tusks are lopsided, and you probably can’t understand a word I’m saying, but I’m still prettier and don’t smell like a hairy Russian’s armpit!_

The boar slammed headlong into the cage, sending it scooting backwards and Danny into a pile of fur on the ground. He barely had enough time to shake himself out and dart out of the cage before the boar started after him, zipping back down the hall. 

The hall with the door closed. _Shit. Shit, shit shit shit._ This was it. Seconds from escape, from the possibility of returning to a normal life, it all came to an end and this was how he would die. In Hawaii, spitroasted on a boar’s tusk. 

Unless some divine being felt kind towards him that day, which apparently they did. In that moment, just as Danny _considered_ prayer, the door swung open, tall, dark, and lethal swinging his gun up. He couldn’t count on not being shot, so he sprinted forward, took a second to gather for a pounce, and leaped into the man hard enough to send him flying backwards on his ass and pulling the door shut at the same time. 

Danny landed on him, one foot striking out in the struggle to kick him dead center in the face. With a wince, the man slapped a hand over his face. The two of them stared at each other, Danny frozen and the man’s eyes wide. “Uh, Chin?” he called, uttering the words slowly as if that would spook him less with the volume. 

_Chin. Shit, Chin Ho Kelly, that better be -_ That wouldn’t work either. He had no way to communicate with them before they stuffed him in a crate and shipped him to a wildlife preserve for rehab. It didn’t help that it appeared Danny had kicked Chin’s acquaintance hard enough that blood dribbled below his hand, and over his lip. 

While the human had no interest, the fox slowly rose up, leaning forward to almost touch his nose to his lips, pink tongue darting out to lap at the blood as he would a dead competitor’s. _Hey. NO. STOP._ Blue eyes locked with hazel for just a beat, just a second, then suddenly the man was twisting under him. Not that Danny could blame him because even after all this time, he was still unnerved by the predator’s instinct firmly entangled in his own mind now.

Footsteps. Shaking it off, Danny broke into a sprint again, recognizing Chin Ho and Meka Hanamoa with a female he didn’t before he ran between them, entirely focused on getting as far, far away from them as he could until he figured out what the hell he was going to do.

\-------

Steve McGarrett stumbled to his feet, quickly swiping away the blood leaking from one nostril. The animal, the fox that bowled him over, had left him with such an eerie feeling in a matter of seconds that he could only stare as it made a break for it again. Behind him, something slammed into the door again, drawing his attention back around. Whatever it was, the door held well, and he turned back to face his team. 

“You okay, boss?” Kono asked, brow furrowing as she reached out and wiped away more blood with one of her tac gloves. “Where’s the guy that punched you?”

“It was that fox,” Steve mumbled, not entirely thrilled to admit that it was an animal, not a human being that drew the only blood of the night. He caught Meka and Chin exchanging a glance. “I know for a fact that your dog headbutt you and gave you that black eye last month, so don’t start, Hanamoa,” he added, pointing a finger at him, “and you, Kelly, just wait until Malia has those twins.” 

Chin grinned at the mere mention of his wife and children. “Hardly can already,” he replied, then slipped a hand around Steve’s arm. “Come on. SWAT can finish up here. Let’s get that stopped.” 

Steve muttered under his breath and swiped at his nose again. “If anyone asks, it was a guy twice my size.”


	2. Two

There were twenty one of them, all focused raptly on Steve. Twenty one of them ready to eviscerate him in the way only a child could if he misspoke or they were less than impressed with his delivery. As his second in command, Steve tried to push the field trip introduction off onto Chin, but somehow when the time came, Kelly was absolutely nowhere to be found. Steve twisted his hands in a small, nervous gesture as he smiled (at least he hoped it came off looking like a smile) back at the children. Give him terrorists, give him gun runners, give him the common criminal and he knew what to do. Give him tiny humans and he was fairly certain failure was in his future. 

“Hello everybody. Welcome to Five-0 headquarters,” Steve explained, gesturing to the main area with one hand. “My name is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett and I am the leader of the task force. You can call me Steve though if you have any questions. Just raise a hand.” He did so as an example, earning an eyeroll from a tall boy off to the side, who huffed and crossed his arms. “Right, so this is where we do most of our work. No matter what you see on TV, there is actually a lot more paperwork than there is chasing bad guys,” he added, turning sharply and motioning for them to follow. 

Students and teacher ambled after him and gathered around the table. “This is a very high tech piece of equipment. It’s actually a computer that is hooked up to several databases that most people cannot use,” he told them, running his hand over the screen to get rid of the satellite image of the islands that popped up when it was in sleep mode - to reveal an Angry Birds game paused. More than ever, Steve felt he’d been abandoned in his time in need. As competitive as Angry Birds could get around the office, no one just left a game abandoned when a score that high was in the works. The kids giggled around him as he murmured an apology and quickly exited out. 

Up on the screen, the desktop appeared, all icons in place, and Steve breathed a sigh of relief. With rapid fire precision, he explained each program and at the end, asking if anyone had any questions, he caught several blank stares in return. _I thought that was pretty fascinating_ , he thought, running a hand through his hair as his mind whirled wildly, trying to figure out where to go next. “So hey, who wants to see where we keep all the weapons?” he asked, a flash of brilliance really, clapping his hands together.

It was like doling out pure sugar to each and every one. Eyes brightened, grins appeared, and a chorus of ‘yes!’ and ‘me!’ filled the main area. At that moment, the door pushed open at the end and Kono stopped dead, holding a bag of what looked like Kamekona’s fare. Steve pointed over the children’s heads towards her. “That is Officer Kono Kalakaua and she is going to lead you on a tour,” he added, giving her a small wave as the kids looked towards her. 

Her eyes widened and she made a fist, motioning that she would be decking him later during sparring, then quickly dropped it when the attention fell fully on her. “All right, who wants to go see where we keep the big guns, huh?” She moved into the room just enough to throw the bag to Steve. “That better all be there when I get back, boss,” she added, earning more laughter. Dear god, if those children only knew how serious Kono Kalakaua could be about her lunch. Steve crossed his heart and grinned at her. 

As the little group shuffled out, two children held back briefly. Billy Hanamoa reached out to pat Steve’s arm. “It’s okay, Uncle Steve. With more practice, you’ll get used to talking to people again. That’s what dad always says,” he told him, entirely serious in the way only children could be. Still, he lightly chucked the kid on the shoulder.

“Well, your dad is right about practicing. I’m not sure about the rest,” he said dryly, then made a shooing motion towards the door. “Go on. I don’t want to get your teacher mad because I got you separated from your class.” 

“She’s not that scary,” Billy replied, huffing out a breath and turning for the door. “Grace?” While he moved forward, the little girl that stayed with him continued to stare up at Steve. It wasn’t a studious stare either, a dark storm swirling in her eyes as she _glared_ at him with entirely too much anger for a child he’d never spoken to, much less ever met. Stepping up to him, she tilted her head back to look up at him, defiant. 

“Did you take my Uncle Meka from the police?” she asked. 

“Y...es?” Steve replied uncertainly, brow furrowing in concern. “I didn’t take so much as hired him to join my task f - _ow_!” 

Her small fist driving into his leg right above his knee didn’t so much hurt as surprise him (though the kid did have a wicked swing for her size and age) and all he could do was gape in shock as that anger in her eyes gave way just a little to frustration, tears appearing at the corners of her eyes. “He’s my Danno’s partner! You can’t have him! He’s gonna come back!” she yelled up at him, pointing a finger at Steve. “You can’t have Uncle Meka!” 

“Grace!” Thankfully at that moment, the teacher chose to return looking for her wayward students and rushed across the floor, kneeling down in front of the girl. “I am so sorry, Commander. She isn’t usually like this,” she quickly apologized. “Grace, tell Commander McGarrett you’re sorry. We’ve talked about this.” The words were spoken softly and Steve looked away, as if he could give them some degree of privacy without moving.

Billy, meanwhile, stared at his feet as if the regulation shoes that went with the school uniform just became extremely interesting. The girl, Grace, shook her head hard, arms crossing over her chest. “Not until he says sorry first. He took something that doesn’t belong to him,” she replied, voice soft but stubborn. “Make him say sorry, Mrs. Kekoa.” 

Mrs. Kekoa sighed and rose to her feet, brushing hair back behind her ear. “We’re going to have another talk with your mother about this after school, Grace,” she said sternly, then turned to face Steve again, expression becoming extremely apologetic. She dropped her voice as she spoke. “I am so sorry about this. Please do not let it color your perception of future field trips.” Behind her, Billy slipped up next to Grace and wrestled one of her arms away from where she stubbornly crossed them over her chest, taking her hand in his and squeezing tight.

In that moment, Steve knew there was more to it than a child angry that her father no longer worked with Meka. _He’s gonna come back_ probably didn’t refer to Meka at all, but her father. _Danno,_ she called him. “It’s fine, Mrs. Kekoa. I’ve been yelled at worse,” he replied quietly, giving her a sheepish grin. “This is just a test run and there’s plenty more to see. I’m sure Kono would be happy to take the kids on a tour of the basement,” he added, hoping to usher all three of them out of the room quicker before the situation became more awkward. 

Which, as if someone above listened to Steve’s silent pleas and did the exact opposite, it did. Meka chose that moment to enter, coffee carrier in hand. “Billy! Gracie! Why aren’t you two with the rest of your class?” he called, grinning ear to ear as he trotted over and sat the carrier on the edge of the table. Billy went immediately into his father’s arms, but Grace took a quick step back, arms crossing tightly over her chest again, expression betrayed. Steve watched the moment, curious. 

Meka’s face fell slightly when Grace didn’t come into the hug. “Okay, you two. Listen to your teacher, all right? There’s some pretty interesting stuff left to see.” Before he let Billy go, he whispered something into his son’s ear. Billy nodded quickly and let go of his father, returning to Grace’s side and taking her hand again, refusing to let her pull away. With Mrs. Keoka herding them out the door, Steve’s shoulders slumped in relief and he leaned against the table. 

“That little girl did not like me at all,” he mumbled, running a hand over his jaw before he grabbed one of the coffees from the carrier. “I knew I wasn’t the best with children, but that was a little harsh.” 

Meka clapped him on the shoulder. “I wouldn’t take it too personally. Gracie’s father disappeared just before you arrived on the island. My former partner.” He slumped tiredly against the table and took a long drink. 

Steve’s brain jumped on the connection immediately. “Wait, that little girl is Danny Williams’ daughter?” He knew the story as well as anyone could given the mysterious circumstances. Detective Williams was the closest to the McGarrett house when the call came in about Hesse at the residence, working on another case. When HPD arrived, Steve’s father was dead, Hesse was gone, and the house looked like it had been trashed in a fight. A Camaro sat out on the front lawn, still running, kevlar gone from the back trunk, lights flashing. 

No one ever figured out what happened but the running theory was Detective Williams had been overpowered by Hesse and his men and killed, body dumped. Though, as Steve wondered initially, why they would go through the trouble of dumping his body elsewhere when they’d already committed a murder in the house, he wasn’t sure. None of it added up. 

“Gracie Williams. She’s really a sweetheart, Steve. Good kid, very smart, very observant and quick. She’s just…” Meka hesitated. “She was her father’s daughter. They were very close and his disappearance, well, she’s been acting out since. Rachel’s at wit’s end with her some days. While the rest of us are sure that he’s dead, she keeps expecting him to come back and…” He held out his free hand, letting Steve fill in the end of the sentence for himself. “He was a good guy too. Certainly a mainlander, not a fan of being here, but he had a big heart, loved that little girl with everything he had, and he was always good to me and Amy, great with Billy. It’s a shitty way for him to go out.” 

Steve pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I wondered about that once, about why they didn’t just…” He trailed off himself, unsure of how to proceed without offending Meka when it came to his former partner, given how close they sounded. “If maybe he isn’t still alive because he was working for th-”

“No.” Meka cut him off abruptly, but unlike Grace’s outburst, it wasn’t directed at Steve but grounded in good old fashioned _faith._ “He was a good man, a good cop. He wasn’t dirty and that’s that,” he replied. “I knew him, Steve. Worked with him. As I said, he grated on a few nerves but he worked hard and he was damn loyal. I’d stake my career on that.” 

Steve held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I just - I just had to ask, Meka. It doesn’t make sense,” he replied. “All right, I’m going to get started on paperwork and -” He hesitated mid-turn, crouching down to pick something up that caught his eye. “Your kid doesn’t wear a charm bracelet, does he?” 

Meka snorted. “Amy can’t even get him to wear a tie for formal dinners, Steve. Of course he doesn’t,” he said, then leaned down. “No, that’s definitely Grace’s. Danny gave it to her and she refuses to take it off.” He held out his hand. “I can take it to Rachel when I head home.”

“No.” Rising to his feet, Steve brushed his thumb over the singular charm that hung from the silver links. “That’s all right, I can take it to her. I’d like to apologize in person for upsetting her daughter,” he added, staring at the charm, something tugging at the corner of his mind. The little silver fox charm caught the light from the fixture above and glinted at him.


	3. Three

Once free of the cargo ship that served as the mobile arena for Gerard’s exotic fight club, once he managed to weave his way through cars and vans flashing blue and white lights across the vast parking lot, once he left it all behind and the threat of capture decreased, he sprinted into the night as fast as he could. There were very few things that Danny remembered clearly: his daughter, what he used to do. Directions were not one of those things, but he felt a vague pull at his instincts and with no real place to settle down and hide, he let it guide him. 

It was late enough that Honolulu existed mostly in a state of closing or already closed, the party already started in the tourist districts where loud music beat a steady rhythm heard for blocks and locals and mainlanders alike lined up outside of clubs for a chance to get into the trendiest spots on the island. He avoided those places, veering away every time the bass grew louder, making his eardrums twinge, vibrating the pavement under his feet. He stayed close to buildings, away from lights, from cars, and he ran until his chest heaved, his tongue lulled out of the side of his mouth, and his already weakened body felt ready to give.

By the time he belly crawled under a food truck and curled into a ball, the pads on his feet were beaten and torn, matching the rest of his body in damage taken. He gently nosed his right back paw, then gently flicked the gravel sticking away with his tongue. The stab of pain resulted in a snarl and a whine before he stubbornly dove back in, bearing it all in order to clean out what he could. At that moment, he couldn’t afford to get an infection and have to drag his dying furry ass off to some small corner to die. Not when he’d come this far.

The problem he came to now: where did he go from there? 

Once the cleaning was done, he settled his head between his paws and gazed out at the water - or what he assumed was the water. In the inky blackness, even his spectacular eyesight couldn’t quite differentiate and the only thing he had to go on was the volume of the water rolling to shore nearby. Against his will, as the adrenaline slowed, his eyelids grew heavier, the panting stopped, and his body twisted around into a ball, tighter and tighter until he was as small as he could get, tucked up against a tire for something at his back. 

_An hour. I can spare an hour. It’ll do me good, give me some clarity._

Danny fell asleep, lulled by the waves in the distance.

\--------

_His lungs needed air. Head tilted back, cloth pulled firmly over his face, water sloshing down over his head, his lungs burned and he dug his fingernails into the underside of the wooden arms, so fucking terrified that he didn’t even feel when one nail bent wrong and broke. The water continued to fall and any attempt at a breath pulled more moisture into his lungs. He would suffocate at any moment if they didn’t -_

_The water stopped, the cloth was jerked away, and Danny shot forward, coughing and hacking so hard that he spit bile onto the floor between his bare feet. Black spots danced around in his vision as panic settled in, his brain prattling on at him to get as much oxygen as he could before he passed out. Danny drew in another breath and let it out in a loud hacking cough that scraped up the insides of his chest painfully with invisible fingers. A set of strong, firm hands grabbed his shoulders and yanked him upright, his back hitting the hard wooden chair behind him enough to knock loose a weak ‘oof’ from him._

_Gerard Bane stared back at him, settled on an overturned bucket, fingers steepled in front of his mouth. In his years of working homicide, Danny rarely saw the look in Gerard’s eyes. Twice. He’d seen the look twice and each time, it belonged to someone who committed a crime so gruesome, even the veteran cops looked away before they lost their lunch in the nearest bushes. Someone so detached from their humanity that they thought nothing of mercilessly slaughtering another human being to get the point across._

_The thing was, if the scent that Danny caught here and there when he could focus was what he thought it was, Gerard probably considered himself better, more than. Whereas Danny saw what he was as a problem to be dealt with, Gerard probably embraced it when the full moon rose high in the sky and their animal instincts reigned over human minds. Better than humans, which Danny found to be utter bullshit._

_Finally, Gerard nodded once to some unspoken thought and sat up a little straighter, dropping his hands to his knees. “If he’s withstood this far, he’ll do,” he called over his shoulder, but even Danny’s eye sight couldn’t penetrate the heavy darkness behind him. All he could hear was the scrape of the door across the floor, hinges in desperate need of a oiling._

_Gerard turned back to face him, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a smirk that Danny desperately wanted to swipe off his face. Permanently. “I know you’re waiting for a question, detective. Maybe several pertaining to the scene you stumbled in on. You most likely expect that we’ll ask you to betray your colleagues in trade for your own life, but you would rather die first, wouldn’t you? You reek of stubbornness.” He leaned a little closer, the scent of expensive cologne filling Danny’s nostrils and making him gag. How he could wear that, being what they were, and not overwhelm himself, go nose deaf, was beyond Danny._

_The hand that grasped his chin was soft, the hand of a man who never did a day of hard labor in his life - or his own dirty work. Danny yanked back so hard that his head bounced off the back of the wooden chair and stars exploded in his vision. He shook his head, blinked them away, but then the hand returned, grasping harder. “No, no, that’s good. See, I don’t have any questions for you, detective. You are inconsequential to what is going on. The players are already in place and, well, we don’t need any information. You wouldn’t have anything anyway, would you? The word around the precinct is you’re not very well liked.” He tsk’d lightly at that. “You’re on an island, detective. You should have at least tried to make friends.”_

_Danny laughed humorlessly. “I got a few friendships I’d like to make. My fist, your face. My gun, your chest. Hell, my foot, your nuts. How about those for friendships, huh?” The grin he gave Gerard was more a baring of teeth, just a shred of humanity shy of a threatening snarl. Still, Gerard smiled on, perfect, straight teeth in a full mouth on a handsome face. Too handsome, almost perfect. Boring. So very fucking boring._

_“That fight is going to serve you well in the ring. See, here is what’s going to happen. You’re not here for information or for ransom. You, detective, were an exchange of goods in a business transaction,” Gerard stated, withdrawing his hand to rub at his jaw thoughtfully. “My customers like a good show and the best, the best comes from the animals with a little something extra.” Those words made Danny go absolutely still, water trickling down the lines of his face to drip onto his shirt, his slacks, and soak in. “They fight differently, make it more exciting. Then, after the killing blow, the instincts overwhelm and the savageness of it all, it brings the fight to such a close.”_

_He was insane, the way he whispered reverently, green eyes half-lidded as what Danny could only assume was a pleased shiver ran over his body. Danny felt his own gut lurch as if he’d offer up what was left in his stomach. He was not an animal, he received no thrill from the thought of savagely killing another. He never hunted, except for the rats in his own apartment before Grace came over._

_“When we’re done with you, detective, you will make a wonderfully feral killing machine,” Gerard whispered and leaned in further, eyes locked on Danny’s. “And when you’ve gone as far as you can, I’m going to find that little girl of yours and I’m going to make her watch what her daddy’s become.” He reached out to squeeze at Danny’s bicep, as if testing his durability. “Maybe that rabbit her stepfather gave her will be an excellent opponent, don’t you think?”_

_The fear burned away in the fiery rage that overwhelmed Danny, the instinct to protect his daughter stronger than the will to save his own life. He shot forward, breaking the grasp on his shoulders, but the bindings on his wrists, ankles and waist caught. Still, he came just shy of snapping suddenly sharp canines down on the tip of Gerard’s nose and destroying that illusion of pretty boring. There were no words for the absolute loathing he felt for this man, so he snarled instead, the sound rumbling up from deep in his chest, fangs bared._

_Gerard had nearly fallen off the bucket. He tugged at the lapels of what Danny could only guess was an overpriced suit jacket, hiding the flicker of anger in his eyes. His lip curled up. “Do your worst,” he muttered, not to Danny, but to the man standing behind him, a run of the mill human. “Break the mind first, then bind the body. You know the drill.” Rising from the bucket, he strode into the darkness without a backwards glance._

_The cloth pulled tight over Danny’s face and yanked him backwards again, forcing his head to tilt up, and the water began to fall again._

\------------

“Shhhh. Shhhh. Hey there.” The gentle words drew Danny out of the nightmarish revisiting of the days before the arena, the murky memories more vivid than they’d ever been before. His body trembled and over the bushed fur of his tail, he could see a heavyset man on his knees, peering under the truck. The sun rose at some point, telling him that he’d far overslept, and he blinked rapidly. “What are you doing under there, huh?”

“Cuz, what are you doing? You’re supposed to be opening, not talking to the grass. I told you, no more Chia Pets after what happened last time.” What felt like years ago, Danny would have appreciated the overwhelmingly dry sarcasm in the other man’s voice, but now he only rose to his feet, wincing as he put weight on his sore paw pads, and started backing away. 

“You’re scaring him.” The kneeling man complained and reached under the truck, beckoning towards Danny. He smelled like the beach, suntan lotion and sand, and he found it surprisingly soothing. If he had nowhere to go, nothing else to be, no one else to see, maybe.

A second round face peered under the truck as the other man got to his knees. He made a sound of surprise and grabbed the first man’s hand back. “That’s a fox. Do you want your hand eaten?” he snapped at his cousin. “Go call animal control.” 

The first man smacked him on the arm. “Look at him. He’s wearing a collar,” he said. Whatever else he said after that, Danny tuned out. A little more aware of his surroundings, he could smell food, frying oil and motor oil. He’d managed to find sanctuary under a food truck and while the thought of begging some food out of the two proprietors was a tempting thought, who knew where that would lead. While the two argued the legality of keeping a fox on the island (there was absolutely none, but tell that to the first man who wanted to keep him), he quickly scuttled backwards, slipped around a tired, and ignored the shouting as he started to run again, feeling as if he hadn’t stopped from before.

\--------------

The Silverado sat idly before the gate blocking the way onto the Edwards property. While he waited for whoever was home to grant him permission to enter, he stared at the gate’s bars, deep in thought. The rest of the afternoon had been spent requesting and then demanding the missing detective’s file and all pertinent information to his case be sent over to Five-0. Meka stated that Detective Williams made very few friends, so why they fought so hard to keep the case, he couldn’t figure out. Maybe Kaleo just really wanted the win. 

In all honesty, it was Grace’s stubborn insistence that her father was alive that got to Steve. The loss of his father months later still hung heavily around his neck and knowing the weight of that burden, he could only imagine the weight of the one that little girl carried, clinging to the belief that one day, her father would walk through that gate and swing her up into his arms, telling her he was home.

John McGarrett would never welcome his son or daughter home again, but maybe there was a chance that Danny Williams still could. By all rights, he was on the up and up just as Meka stated. Even Catherine’s under the table dig through records brought up nothing suspicious. Before his disappearance, child support, car payments, rent and a mortgage back in Jersey made sure he danced on the red line in his bank account often, but not once was there an unusual spike or any sign of a second account. Even the death of a partner, the incarceration of his training officer, as much as Steve hated to term it that way, were normal. 

Danny Williams was a decorated detective with an excellent track record, a devoted father who loved his little girl. It looked like his only mistake was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to save John McGarrett’s life. If he was still alive, that meant it was up to Steve to find him.

The gates crept open and Steve guided the truck up the drive to park in front of the door. Shutting off the engine, he climbed out, the lights on the porch flaring to life in the waning light. He’d only gotten halfway to the door when it sung open, an attractive, dark haired woman with soul weary eyes peering at him. “My housekeeper said you were with Five-0?” she asked, her British accent softening the bluntness of her words. _Straight to the point runs in the family,_ Steve thought as he stopped a few feet away. 

“Ah, yes. My name is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett and I’m with the Five-0 taskforce, but I’m not here on police bus - “ He trailed off as Rachel closed her eyes and clapped a hand to her mouth, resting her forehead against the door. “Is everything okay?” 

Rachel’s entire demeanor softened, her shoulders slumped slightly, and she waved him in. “My apologies, Commander. As soon as you said who you were - I am so sorry about today. Please understand that Grace is not usually like that. She’s going through a bit of a rough patch right now and we are trying to be firm with her, but…” She waved her hand helplessly. “I cannot apologize enough. If there is anything we can do to make up for it.” 

Steve quickly held up his hands. “Mrs. Edwards, I’m not here to cause a problem. Your daughter lost her charm bracelet and Meka told me it was very important to her. I wanted to personally see that it found it’s way home.” Digging the small bracelet from his pocket, he held it out to her and could only watch as Rachel’s eyes started to shine in the lights from either side of the door. For a woman in her 30s, she suddenly looked very young and exhausted and Steve’s heart went out to her.

“Grace!” she called, stepping back into the house, then turned to face Steve again. “She’s been frantic all evening since she found it was gone. I had no idea what to do if it didn’t turn up soon.” She tucked a few strands of hair falling loose from the loose bun back behind her ear, then laughed and waved a hand in front of her face. “It’s been a very stressful day here. I’m sorry,” she added, running a thumb under one eye to wick away the moisture. 

Not unlike a baby elephant trampling down the stairs, Grace came crashing down, sprinting for the doorway only to see Steve standing there. Her expression started to turn dark before Steve quickly held out his hand, letting her see the bracelet sitting there. “I’m sorry to intrude, Miss Williams, but I thought you might be missing this.” For the first time since meeting her, the dark cloud that found a home in Grace’s eyes parted slightly for the little girl’s sunny disposition to show through. She quickly held her wrist out and Steve crouched to place it around her wrist and snap the clasp shut, turning it around so the little silver fox rest right over her pulse point. 

“I know it’s hard to lose someone. I lost my dad a few months back,” he told her quietly. Grace’s head shot up, her expression softening, bottom lip trembling slightly. “I still miss him a lot to this very day.” 

“Are you going to find him?” she asked softly, reaching out to take Steve’s hand. The genuine hope in her voice left Steve’s heart a shattered mess inside his chest. 

“No, Gracie. He went to Heaven,” he replied, giving her a sad smile, then he rest his hand over her small one. “But after what you said today, I asked the police and they gave me your dad’s stuff. If he’s out there, I’m going to bring him home for you, all right?” That was a terrible promise to make, but the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Danny Williams might never be found, might already be dead, his body forever lost, but the sheer hope in Grace’s expression made Steve want to go against the odds and win, bring him home alive. He couldn’t save his own father, but maybe he could save Grace’s. 

Her arms went around the neck and she held on tightly, burying her head into his neck. Behind her, Rachel’s eyes closed, a hand resting lightly over her mouth as she fought to keep her emotions in check. Whatever made Rachel and Danny call it quits on their marriage, it wasn’t a lack of love between the two of them. Steve’s arms briefly tightened around Grace and then he slowly extracted himself, rising to his feet. Reaching into his other pocket, he pulled two cards and handed one to Rachel, then to Grace. “Grace, if you ever need to talk or you remember something that can help, you can call me on the number here, okay?” Steve offered her a gentle smile as he tapped a finger on her cell phone number. “Anytime.” He stressed the word and she nodded, the movement minute. 

He rest a hand on her head, gave Rachel a sympathetic smile and nod, then turned to jog back to his truck. Both were still standing on the porch watching him when the engine roared to life, Rachel’s hands resting on Grace’s shoulders, Grace’s face buried against her hip. Maybe for that night at least, they would find a little peace. He offered them a small wave, then started directing the truck back towards the gate.

\-------------

Run, walk, run, walk, run, walk. Danny’s day consisted of movement, moving until his paws left bloody prints behind him, but he couldn’t stop moving once he knew he was on the right path. He stayed moving even after the sun began to set and finally made it to the familiar street, managing a slow lope towards the gates that he absolutely hated, but what he knew to be beyond, he absolutely loved. _My cub._

The intention had been to squeeze between the bars on the gate, but just as he stepped into the driveway, he found the gates were already open. His vision suddenly went white as light filled his surroundings and he froze. A moment later, he heard the squeal of brakes suddenly applied and everything just went still, the only sound the rumbling of a large engine. Danny quickly scampered back, blinking away the black spots in his vision until he could see the side of the Chevy Silverado towering over him. 

_What the HELL is wrong with you? Do you drive out of every driveway like a horse breaking the gate at the Derby, huh? What, do you think just because you drive some big truck, that gives you a right to drive however you want? I can’t see my daughter again if I’M A ROADKILL PANCAKE IN THEIR DRIVEWAY, YOU ASSHOLE._ He vaguely remembered human words but at that point, the best he could do was an aggravated series of yips, yelps, chirps and growls.

Then he recognized tall, dark and lethal from the arena sitting in the driver’s seat. Tall, dark and lethal apparently recognized him too. His eyes went wide and he scrambled for the door handle. “ _Hey!_ ” The manner in which he shouted wasn’t the offense Danny thought it would be, but surprise and almost...excited? 

There was no way in hell he was trusting this guy. All it took was one wrong move and he’d end up shipped to a rehabilitation center on the mainland, unable to find a way to shift back until he was far, far away from Grace with no way to get back to her. He couldn’t let that happen, not when he was this close. Spinning around, he took off running down the street, his feet painfully hitting sidewalk.

Behind him, he heard the door slam shut and the sound of boots hitting the same pavement. “No, Chin, I found the fox from the exotics fight club!” Tall, Dark and Lethal was shouting, most likely on the phone. (He was TDL now, since he had the nerve to continue popping up wherever Danny needed to be.) “Yes, I know what Animal Control’s job description is, but it’s right here! Hey!” That word, paired with the whistle, annoyed Danny to no end. _What does he think I am, a dog? Here boy, good boy, let me put you in a cage, boy._ “You don’t know that a wild animal won’t come when calle...it’s got the sass of a human being already, Chin. I almost hit it and it bitched at me!” 

At another time, Danny probably would have had a good laugh at that, but as it was, he could only run for his life. As he neared the rental property next door, he slipped through the bars on the gate and raced across the dark property and around the empty house. Slipping under the deck, he crouched down, waiting. Around him, silence stretched on until he heard the boots slipping across grass, then stopping. Silence again.

“Shit, I lost it.” TDL’s disappointment rang heavy in his words. “I don’t know. I just...there’s something about that animal that gives me a weird feeling. If you’d seen the look in its eyes, Chin, there was just something...I don’t know, _not_ animal about it.” He could almost picture TDL pinching the bridge of his nose. “You know what? You’re right. I just need to go home and sleep, start on this again tomorrow.” Then his voice and footsteps receded back to the other side of the house and Danny sunk down on the ground, legs splayed out around him as he huffed a sigh of relief.


	4. Four

Danny laid in his hiding place, hindquarters tensed to take off running if TDL came stalking around again, but his surroundings remained silent. He waited for what felt like an hour before finally wiggling out, taking the chance that he was lying in wait. The property remained dark and silent, his scent growing fainter. It looked like he’d taken off. Danny huffed a sigh of relief and crept towards the gate, squeezing between the bars and trotting over to the neighboring property to wiggle between those bars. 

The last time he’d been up this drive, he...he couldn’t remember. Once again, he could remember Grace, but the details eluded him like a hell of a lot of his life before the arena, before Gerard and his goons got their hands on him. Frustrated, he started trotting faster, slipping around the corner of the house - and jumping back into the shadows. Rachel stood out on the lanai, curled up in a chair that dwarfed her. Her knees were drawn up and she held the phone to her ear, her head resting in her other hand.

“The day started out rough but it ended better,” Rachel said softly, the words barely understandable even to his hearing. She was obviously trying to keep her voice low so that Grace wouldn’t hear. He peered around and tilted his head up, but he couldn’t see Grace’s bedroom window from that angle. “I think. I don’t know, Clara. I think Grace has new hope that’s just going to break her heart in the end,” she added, closing her eyes. Rachel looked so tired and he couldn’t imagine what she’d gone through in the last several months, what he’d put her and Grace through with his disappearance. 

He remembered her. He remembered vague good times, time spent tangled in sheets and laughing, over what he couldn’t remember. Ice cream. There was ice cream and two spoons, but that was it. He lowered his tired body to the ground, head between his paws. “This Commander Steve McGarrett, he told her that he’d look into Danny’s case, that he would try and find him, and - “ Her voice hitched, but Danny’s ears perked up in interest. _McGarrett. I know that name. Why do I know that name?_ Closing his eyes, he could picture a house, but why was that important? 

“-I still loved your son, Clara! _Love_. You should know as well as I that this far out, it’s hard to hold out hope that he’ll be coming home! I don’t want to see my little girl’s heart broken irreparably when she realizes he’s gone and I don’t - I’m not sure I appreciate this new hope she’s been given. I want to believe, I truly do, but it’s been seven months. If Danny was going to come home, he’d be bloody home by now!” Though hushed in tone, Rachel’s voice rose in intensity. “She already insists that he’s still alive and any hint that someone doesn’t believe her, she begins to act out. I’m just -" She covered her face with her hand and Danny let out a mournful chirp, which was thankfully out of range of Rachel’s hearing. 

Drawing back her shoulders, Rachel lifted her head, closed her eyes, and drew in a deep breath. “I am trying and I will continue trying. For Grace,” she added, her tone firm, “so you needn’t fly down here, Clara. I will keep you apprised as to how Grace is doing and we’ll set up a Skype date for this weekend so she can talk to you. Have a good night.” Hanging up, she dropped the phone into her lap and turned her attention out to the yard, chin resting on her head. “Danny Williams, if you’re bloody out there, come home already.” 

Suddenly his plan to see Grace fell apart and Danny pulled back into the shadows, leaning against the house. Grace knew what he was, but that would be expecting his daughter to keep a secret much bigger than her, then what? What would he do then? His daughter would have a beat up old fox for a father. Not to mention he had no idea if Gerard had been captured in the raid. If he was still out there, then that only made Grace a target. 

Danny’s mind went back to the name Rachel mentioned. _Steve McGarrett_. The one who promised Grace that he would help find Danny. It didn’t mean that he was trusthworthy off the bat but he was worth checking out. With a grunt, Danny heaved his tired body onto all four feet again and loped towards the gate. _One of these times, I’m going to find a way to get out of this. This has to lead somewhere or just kill me now and save everyone the frustration._

\----------

_Danny shouldered open the door, gun aimed in front of him. Silently, he crept into the house, but it was too late. He saw the body slumped in the chair, blood spattered up against the wall. Still, he scanned the room, keeping his back to the wall, listening for movement._

_As he started for the kitchen, something hard came down across the back of his head and he hit the floor, darkness creeping into his vision and then lights out._

Danny stared at the house in front of him, trying to cling to the memories despite their less savory connections. Something bad happened in the house and yet, it was where instinct led him. He was tempted to turn tail, curl up behind the shed for a few hours, and try something else when he woke up. At least until he saw movement in the window, movement that went more towards stealth than a tired someone stumbling towards the kitchen for a late night drink. 

He trotted forward, hopping up to put his front paws on the windowsill. Sure enough, three men crept up the stairs, one he recognized as Gerard’s right hand man. _Shit._ Well, if he was looking for a sign that he might be able to trust this Steve McGarrett, that was certainly a start. It looked like they hated him and wanted him as dead as they’d wanted Danny. 

He hopped down and sprinted around the side of the house, finding an open door around the back where they’d made their entrance. He scrambled in just in time to hear a thump from up the stairs, a grunt and a yell. _Just my luck, they’re probably killing the guy I think might help. Come on, world, throw me a bone here. And ignore any canine puns you might get from that._ Exhausted, on his last legs, he put his all into scrambling up the stairs and following the sounds of fighting down the hall and to the bedroom.

One man was already down, lying on his stomach and not moving an inch. A second was pulling himself to his feet, unsteady, while TDL took on a third with skill that made Danny stop and stare. Whatever he’d assumed about this Steve McGarrett, he hadn’t expected it to be the man he (literally) kept running into and certainly not a ninja. _Okay, maybe he doesn’t need me to - nope, don’t fail me now, body. I need this one._

The second man was sliding a knife loose from its sheath while TDL - Steve - was distracted with his attacker and Danny ran forward, baring his teeth and sinking them into the attacker’s Achilles. He bellowed in pain and kicked out, Danny’s feet skittering on the floor as he tried to find purchase. Finally, he couldn’t hold out any longer and went tumbling. His back smacked into the bed’s leg and he slid down, the fight leaving his body. 

In the darkened bedroom, he saw the shadow looming over him and squeezed his eyes shut. The click of another round, he could feel the gun being aimed at him, ready to put a bullet between his ears. _Okay, not the best idea I’ve ever had. Not even in the top five. I really am going to die like this. A furry blob on the floor. I wonder if McGarrett needs a new rug, because he’s about to get o-_

The thud made him open one eye, then another. Two dead eyes stared back at him, and he rolled his eyes up to see McGarrett hovering over him. Slowly, the man held up his hands and sunk down. “Whoa there,” he said softly, “I’m not going to hurt you. That’s the second time you’ve saved my butt, little buddy.” 

A low growl rumbled up through Danny’s chest. _Watch who you’re calling little, Big Foot._ McGarrett pulled back a little, hands shooting back up. “Hey hey,” he replied, trying to keep his voice soothing. His eyes grew wider. “I’m just going to pet you, okay?” He held out his hand for Danny to creep forward and smell. He kept his belly low to the ground, nose poking at Steve’s hand, then sliding the side of his face against the hand, taking in his scent. He was warm, hands strong and callused, smelling of the ocean and soap. Danny huffed out a breath softly, something about his general presence making him want to trust the man.

McGarrett swore under his breath as his other hand found the collar. Just the gentlest tugging on it sent a sharp pain through his neck and Danny yelped, pulling back and skittering under the bed. _If you see something red and raw, you don’t pull on it, you Neanderthal!_ He snapped his teeth at the face that appeared under the bed, sliding back until his butt hit the wall underneath the headboard. 

But that thing _did_ have to come off if he was ever going to make a step towards human. 

_Shit_. Danny sunk down again and put his paws over his nose. As far as making an impression, that was the last one he needed to make. Still, McGarrett seemed nonplussed. He stood up and Danny watched his feet pacing around the bed, then heard his voice. “This is Steve McGarrett. I need to report a break in at my house. Three men down,” he said, then hung up. “Chin? Grab Meka and Kono, get over here. Looks like our friend from the fight club is a little pissed at us shutting down his business. We’re going to have to double down, close in.” 

Danny’s ears perked up at that. He scooted along on his belly, peering up from under the bed at McGarrett. He stopped pacing and looked down at Danny, his expression softening. “Hey boy.” He clicked his tongue and held out his hand. “Come here. We’re going to get you to another bedroom before HPD gets here,” he murmured, then his brow wrinkled up. “Listen to me talking to you like you’re a human being.”

 _Because I AM A HUMAN BEING._ Danny wanted to scream it at him, but the only thing that came out was a pitiful howl. McGarrett’s expression softened in sympathy and he reached out again, this time Danny allowing him to run his hand over his body. Then McGarrett’s hands suddenly scooped him up and his paws were leaving the ground. He flailed in his grasp while McGarrett tried to calm him down. “Stop, stop! I’m not going to hurt you. Hey, hey,” he gently chided, fingers working under Danny’s chin.

He hated the reaction that provoked, his body shaking in McGarrett’s grasp. “Son of a bitch. What did they do to you, huh?” McGarrett’s fingers brushed over the scars on his body, his torn up paws. “Okay, let’s get you somewhere safe for now.” He stepped over the body on the floor and headed down the hall, opening up a door to a guest bedroom. Gently, he placed Danny on the unmade bed. “Stay here, Buddy. I’ll be back,” he promised quietly. In the distance, Danny heard the sirens approaching. McGarrett shot him another look and then padded out, closing the door behind him.

It was only after he left that Danny realized the man approached a wild animal and picked it up with no apparent concern to himself. He groaned and flopped over on his side, sinking into the mattress. 

There was a very good chance he’d gone to a potentially crazy man for help.


	5. Five

Steve breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back against the door after shutting it behind the last of HPD. Hours of answering questions, crime scene techs scouring his house, the removal of the dead bodies from his bedroom. There hadn’t even been a moment for him to change out the sweatpants and t-shirt he wore to bed, instead shuffling around between HPD and his team, giving out orders. Like hell he would stand down on his own property.

He also had to make sure no one poked their head in his guest bedroom and let loose the fox. 

When he closed his eyes, he could still picture the scrawny creature appearing out of nowhere, latching on to the attacker that would have taken Steve out from behind if not for the interception. Twice, it was twice now that that very fox came out of nowhere and saved his ass, once from being gored, once from being stabbed. Then there was just earlier that night when he found him lurking outside the Edwards residence.

Then he ended up at Steve’s place. 

Steve lifted his head from the door, opening his eyes to find his team watching him. Kono idly swung her gloves around, perched on the arm of his sofa. “So what did you want to talk to us about, boss? Something you couldn’t say in front of HPD?” Her head tilted slightly, a spark of curiosity in her eyes that reminded him over and over why he chose her above the rest of her academy classmates for the job. A sharp mind and good instincts, a desire to work hard and keep learning even after graduation. 

“I -” Pushing away from the door, Steve took a few steps, hesitated, then turned to grab the tablet from where he left it on the coffee table. Surprisingly enough, it hadn’t been touched in the break in, which meant it was most likely a clean up job only. Apparently Bane was furious that they’d put his latest venture out of business and wanted to express that displeasure. It didn’t take him long to find the webpages he’d browsed through when he’d gotten home, turning to show it to Kono, Chin and Meka.

“I need you to keep this fact in mind, all right? The only time a fox has blue eyes is when it’s a kit - or a cub, I’ve seen both terms used - but the point is, they grow out of it and their eyes become an amber color. Remember that and follow me.” Without further explanation, he headed for the stairs, leaving them to follow as he took two at a time, heart suddenly kicking up a few notches in his chest. When the fox had evaded him before, it remained a theory, his and his alone, but now that he had him - 

“Steve,” Chin said softly, catching up to him at a jog, “is this about the fox from the ship, then tonig - well, last night now?” he asked. Steve clenched his jaw and nodded slowly.

“Chin, I know what you’re about to say, but something is not right here,” he replied. “This animal is different, okay? I don’t have to be an expert to see that.” He stopped by the guest room door. “Just give me a chance here, okay? If I’m seeing things that don’t exist, then I need you to tell me that. Otherwise, I just...I don’t know.” 

Instead of finishing the thought, or trying to form it into something that he didn’t even understand, he pushed open the door. The sunlight gave the room a little more visibility, casting a dim glow over the boxes with Mary’s name scribbled on the side. The bed was empty but to his relief, there were signs that an animal had been there, dirty - or bloody - paw prints trailing off the side. Crouching down, Steve whistled and peered under the bed. Nothing.

He whistled again. “Buddy? Come here, boy. We were starting to get somewhere before.” He didn’t even have to turn to know Chin and Meka were probably exchanging looks behind his back, that Kono was scooting a little closer, bending forward to peer around the furniture. 

Then, between two of the boxes, the fox finally appeared, tentatively approaching the Five-0 team. Steve settled down on the floor cross-legged, setting the tablet aside. He held out his hand, palm open. Kono crouched down beside him, her knee brushing his back, hand resting on his shoulder. “As near as I can tell, he’s a South American Gray,” Steve murmured to her, not wanting to startle the small fox, “and beyond the cubs, they definitely do not have blue eyes, not like that.” 

At that point, even Chin and Meka were a little less skeptical, holding their positions but no longer exchanging the worried looks. The fox slunk forward to brush against Steve’s outstretched hand, favoring his paws as he moved. Steve’s fingers brushed along the chain collar around his neck. He froze, remembering the reaction last time. 

“Okay, I’m just going to come out and say this,” Meka said quietly, holding up his hands, “but is no one else worried that we’ve got a wild animal in the house that has been severely abused and might turn on us? Anyone?” 

Chin inhaled to respond when the fox _snorted_ in Meka’s direction, ears flattening, and chattered at him, almost as if rebuking his statement. Meka’s eyes widened and he stood up a little straighter. “What do you think that little shit just said about me?” he asked Chin, earning a snicker from Steve. 

“This is what I was talking about,” Steve told them. “The way this animal acts is clearly not natural for, well, an animal, but we’re not talking about behavior that’s - look, I’m not a behavioral specialist but clearly, this one just acts - strange in another way.” He scowled down at the animal, unable to put his thoughts in a semblance that his team could understand.

“The fox should be acting out, trying to bite us or attack after all he’s been through, but instead he’s acting like he’s trying to discern that he can trust us and possibly communicate?” Kono ventured, resting her chin on her hand. “Because between Meka and you, that’s twice that he’s clearly had a difference of opinion.” 

The fox let out a pleased squawk at Kono’s evaluation, tail swishing softly against the floor before he went back to nuzzling Steve’s hand affectionately. “Yeah, something like that,” Steve said. “I’m going to try something here.” He held up his hands, making eye contact with the fox. His tail stilled and he stared directly at Steve, those blue eyes cautious. “Can I clean you up, Buddy? Put you in the bath, get rid of that collar?” 

He didn’t realize he was holding his breath until Buddy chirped at him (because after saving his ass twice now, Buddy was as good a name as any) and moved closer, climbing into Steve’s lap. Steve carefully curled his arms around him and climbed to his feet, wincing as he felt ribs pressing sharply through skin, scars from rough treatment brushing his skin as he moved. 

“What is going on here?” he heard Meka mutter in disbelief behind him. Padding down the hallway, he turned into his bedroom and through to the bathroom. 

“You two stay out here. We’ve got this.” Steve snorted softly at Kono’s authoritative tone, then blinked, startled, as he realized that Buddy had also snorted. He held the fox at arm’s length in front of him, man and animal staring each other down. The pure intelligence in the animal’s eyes sent a shiver down Steve’s back and not for the first time, he felt an eerie hint of deja vu. 

“Kono? Instead of cooling their heels, tell one of them to get that tablet,” he called over his shoulder. Getting on his knees, he turned the knob to start running lukewarm water into the tub. Kono soon joined him with a towel and together, they gently lowered Buddy into the bathtub.

The fox hissed, at first trying to scramble up Steve’s arms after his paws touched the water, but eventually he relented, ears flattening against his head, eyes squeezed shut. Steve could feel the tremors running through his small body and in his peripheral, he saw Kono watching the animal with barely contained fury. “How can anyone get enjoyment out of this?” she asked Steve softly, stroking gently under Buddy’s chin. 

“I don’t know,” Steve said quietly, then nudged her arm. “This is where I’m going to need your help. He bolted last time.” Carefully directing her hands to a position where she could hold the fox still, Steve gently ran his hand over his back. “Okay, Buddy, I’m going to take the collar off, all right?” Talking to the animal was probably absolutely ridiculous, but so far, it worked in their favor. 

Once Kono was ready, Steve quickly started to separate the choke chain from where it had tangled and embedded into the fox’s neck. The squalling hurt his ears and his heart, Kono looking away beside him, but to the animal’s credit, it didn’t fight him as hard this time. By the time Steve slipped the collar off his neck and tossed it away, Buddy had curled into a ball in Kono’s hands, the tremors visible now. “I’m sorry, sorry,” Steve said quickly, grabbing a washcloth and dipping it in the water, pressing it along the raw, angry skin. 

Kono dove right in beside him, cupping water in her hands and scrubbing at Buddy’s dingy fur. The water quickly turned brown and Steve reached over to let it drain while letting fresh water run in. “See? It sucked first, but it’s getting better, right?” he asked. Buddy turned his head, giving him a deadpan look that made Kono whistle beside him. 

“Not the thing to say to him right now.” 

Steve nudged her with his elbow. “You go get the bag balm out of the cabinet and the first aid kit. Also, two pairs of socks and the scissors. And duct tape,” he called after her retreating back. “You’re going to hate me for what I’m about to do to you, but trust me, it’s for a good reason.” 

Buddy gave a quiet chirp and pushed back into his hands. Steve soothed his fingers through his wet fur a few more times before he lifted him from the tub and onto the towel, drying him slowly and carefully to avoid the bad areas. By the time he was done, Kono returned and set the requested items down and settled back on the floor. 

“Okay, cut those socks down so they won’t be swamping him. We just need the actual foot part to keep him from chewing the bandages off,” Steve instructed. Between the two of them, and some irritated griping from Buddy, they managed to get his paws wrapped up, the socks taped on so he wouldn’t chew the bandages off, then the salve gently applied around his neck, followed by another generous helping of bandages. 

Chin blinked at the sight of his boss carrying the fox back into the bedroom, the animal an angry looking fluff ball wrapped in various bandages. Kono walked behind him, threading the choke chain between her fingers with an irritated expression. “Maybe when we find this guy, we can make him wear this?” she asked, letting it dangle off her finger. “Give him a taste of his own medicine?”

“As poetic as that might be, that would be testing the ‘immunity and means’ boundaries,” Chin replied. Steve settled onto the bed beside Buddy, the fox curling into a small ball against his knee. For the first time since they’d met the fox, he seemed a little more at ease, though still watching them with a curious if wary look in his eyes. 

“Hey, Meka, can I see that tablet?” Steve asked, holding his hand out. He wasn’t sure what it was he was looking for, only that if he flipped through enough pages, maybe he would find it. While he looked, Kono grabbed Chin and Meka by the wrists, tugging them closer and explaining that if they held their hands out where Buddy could see them, he wouldn’t jump if they tried to pet him. Buddy’s eyes were growing heavier, pink tongue sticking out as he yawned, but the peace didn’t last long when Steve sucked in a sharp breath.

“Steve?” He looked up at his concerned teammates, grip tightening on the tablet. 

“Look, what I’m about to say, I’m not even sure about, but…” There was such a thing as one coincidence too many. Steve believed wholly in what he could see, but growing up on the island, around the spiritual beliefs of those that lived there, he also had a deep respect for the forces that couldn’t be seen. This, however, fell outside of what he knew and he toed a fine line in telling his team what the pieces he’d put together were pointing to, a line between them believing him and worrying about his sanity. 

“We can all agree that this fox acts a little strange for an animal. Period. It almost seems to understand us, has demonstrated some behaviors that could translate easily to being human, right?” He looked around at all of them, mentally imploring someone to catch where he was going with that thought. Meka pursed his lips and shot a look at buddy. 

“I think animals can probably be bitchy too. Just look at Amy’s cat,” he muttered, earning an elbow in the side from Chin. 

Steve closed his eyes, rubbing at the bridge of his nose with his free hand. “No, it’s not that. The perception is just...animals are perceptive, I’ve seen it in dogs trained in the service, but this is beyond that. It’s not just that either.” Sighing, he decided to dive right in. They’d either think he was crazy or maybe, he distantly hoped, someone would see what he did. 

“Grace Williams has a charm bracelet that her father gave her and the only charm on it is a fox. Then, researching these animals, I keep finding all this information that says no grown fox has blue eyes. So I started getting this feeling of deja vu that I had seen this color before and…” Trailing off, Steve flipped the tablet around to show them the picture. 

“It’s the same color as Danny Williams’ ey-” Beside him, Buddy’s head shot up off the bed and he yipped sharply, one sock wrapped paw clawing sharply at Steve’s knee. Steve all but dropped the tablet on the bed in surprise. 

It was Meka that broke the shocked silence. “ _Danny?_ ”


	6. Six

_When the knocking persisted, Danny finally tossed aside the sheet and slid off the old sofa bed, grumbling as he rubbed at his eyes and stumbled across to the door. Close to the door, he caught the scent of two males, vaguely familiar. Coworkers. What the hell were they doing at his place on a Sunday morning? It wasn’t as if any of them were on the kind of terms where they invited him to brunch or out to the beach for a game of football. That could only mean the news wasn’t good and he quickly unlocked the door and flung it open._

_“What’s-” They were ready for him, Hanamoa and Kelly, arms sliding under Danny’s and pulling him back into the apartment. Danny was so shocked that he didn’t utter a word until his ass hit the sofa again and he stared up at them, jaw dropped. “The hell is this?” he demanded as Kelly closed the door, Hanamoa hovering over him with his arms crossed, daring Danny to get around him. “Hazing?”_

_Hanamoa’s brow furrowed. “Do we look like a bunh of frat boys to you, huh?” he demanded. “Nah, brah, we’re here to save you from yourself.”_

_Danny found himself at a loss for words, finally snapping his mouth shut as he looked back and forth between the two men. Kelly held up his hands, his expression softer as he turned to sit down beside Danny._

_“Look, we know that you’re not here by choice. A department like HPD, word gets around fast and the story is your ex moved here and this is the only way you could see your kid more than once a year,” Chin said gently, holding up his hands as if trying to enforce that they did come in peace. “Still, you can not love a place and coexist peacefully, you know?”_

_Meka settled in a nearby chair, legs stretched out in front of him, arms still crossed. “And that includes not giving attitude to every man and woman who has your back. It might make your day go a little better too,” he added idly, unfolding his arms to scratch the back of his neck. “We want to like you, Williams, because you’re a damn good cop, but let’s be frank here - you’re kind of an asshole.”_

_Chin pinched the bridge of his nose. “I thought we were going to be nice about this?” he asked dryly, closing his eyes as if a migraine had descended suddenly. Meka’s expression suddenly became one of pure innocence and Danny knew they were playing the good cop bad cop roles with him. Everyone said Meka and Chin were the bromance to beat at HPD and he had to admire how well they worked together. He almost bought Chin’s feigned exasperation._

_“Why does it matter to you guys, huh? You don’t want to deal with me, don’t deal with me,” Danny murmured, running a hand through his hair, tone weary. With the full moon only a few nights away, the itch under his skin was growing and that meant restless nights. As it was, he could hardly afford to eat what all a typical shifter diet required and it was starting to show in the way he wore his clothing. The fight was rapidly leaving him, to the point where he couldn’t even bring himself to throw the two detectives out._

_“We would like to deal with you. Hell, we’d like to be friends even. Give you a life outside the precinct, people here you can rely on. You don’t have to be a loner here, Danny. Hawaii isn’t a bad place. You don’t have to love it, but it’s not somewhere to hate either,” Chin stated._

_“But really, it would be easier if you did, Williams,” Meka threw in and leaned forward. “Let me be blunt here. You’re here for your daughter, right? Well, chances are you’re going to be here a while and the last thing you want is to burn all your bridges and find yourself miserable and alone. You might already feel that way, but you have no one to blame but yourself.” He shifted around in the seat, yanked a pair of jeans at Danny, and leaned back again. “So put on your pants.”_

_Danny stared at them stupidly, trying to comprehend what was going on. “Excuse me?”_

_Chin sighed again. “Sometimes being alone can color perception of a place more than when you have someone. We - “_

_“I do have someone. My daughter, I have my daughter and -”_

_“How often do you see her?” Danny buried his head in his hands. “That’s what I thought. You’re coming with us because first step to finding your feet somewhere new is making acquaintances that don’t hate you. As luck would have it, Chin and I are exactly that kind of friendly. You’re coming to Sunday brunch with us, meet my son Billy and my wife, Amy. Chin’s girlfriend, Malia, will be there too and we’re celebrating some good news, aren’t we?”_

_Danny recognized Chin’s expression, the way his smile stretched from ear to ear and he fairly glowed with happiness. “I’m getting married. Well, we’re getting married,” he amended._

_Despite his cynical nature towards the institution, he gave Chin a weary smile. “Mozel tov,” he replied. Honestly, the guy had been so nice so far that he couldn’t find it in him to be sarcastic about it. “But I really don’t think I should invade. Not my place.”_

_Meka rose from his chair. “You were invited. So help me, if those pants don’t go on soon, I will have Chin hold you down and pull them on myself.” He scowled at him. “You really need to stop being so stubborn and try because you are not going home, Williams. This is home now and like it or hate it, shooting yourself in the foot while you’re here just guarantees you being miserable and alone for the rest of your life.”_

_That was enough to make Danny rise from the sofa bed, glaring at Meka as he yanked the jeans on. “Fine.”_

_Chin rose as well, calmly squeezing his shoulder. “We wouldn’t push if we didn’t think you could be happy here, Danny. Everyone needs people in their life to stand by their side.”_

\------------

_Stand by their side._

The memory rolled from the haze of animal instincts and fuzzy human details his brain had become. He remembered their names, barely, but his name spoken by Meka was enough to jolt something loose. While he’d ignored most of the conversation until then, patiently biding his time until they left the room and he could try and force his human self back to the surface, the end of McGarrett’s theory caught his attention, followed by Meka’s shocked revelation.

 _Yes! This is probably a terrible idea but yes, I’m Danny!_ He yipped sharply and rose to his feet, ignoring how his body ached in favor of trying to give them some kind of sign that as hard as it might be to believe, it was him. He hopped. Once, twice, staring at them all intently.

Meka’s fingers ran through his hair and tightened as he stared at Danny in shock. “Either that animal has a name or some seriously weird shit is happening,” he said, voice monotone, almost as if in shock.

“Seriously weird shit,” Chin echoed, coming to the end of the bed and crouching down. Danny rushed forward, settling on the end of the bed to stick his nose out and snuffle at Chin’s face. 

_Hey. Hey, hey, hey, buddy. Do you realize how much I missed you guys? We used to do things together, right? We were friends. I know we were friends and worked together._ But damned if he could remember particulars. Chin’s hand brushed over his head, down his back, Danny arching up under him and stretching his nose in the air. _Skulk._

“It’s him, isn’t it?” McGarrett asked quietly. Chin nodded mutely as Meka leaned heavily against the wall behind him. 

Kono suddenly looked down at the collar in her hand, then carried it over to the sunshine coming in through McGarrett’s window. “It’s silver. Or it has silver,” she said, turning to them, her eyes wide. “Does that mean that he’s a, you know, arrroooo?” 

The entire room stopped to look at her and the rookie shrugged, holding up her hands. “It still sounds crazy to say outloud,” she protested softly. 

Danny hopped on the bed twice, yipping with each pounce. On the second landing, he toppled, the socks messing with his landing. _This was the stupidest idea ever,_ he growled mentally as he rolled into his back and started chewing at the tape that held the socks on. 

“Hey, leave those on,” McGarrett started but Danny bared his teeth at him. McGarrett’s hands shot up and he slowly rose off the bed. “Okay, okay, you just...stay there and do your thing,” he added, glancing at his assembled team. “We’re just going down to the kitchen to talk.” 

Kono was still running the collar through her fingers as she left the room, expression thoughtful. Still in a state of shock, Chin and McGarrett had to turn Meka to direct him from the room. McGarrett shut the door after he left, trapping Danny inside. 

Seriously. After finding people who knew, who could help, did he really think he would run? Danny grumbled and chirped under his breath as he went to work tearing the taped on socks off his paws. His human awareness, while not fully functioning, gave him the advantage of knowing that bandages good, bandages stay. 

Finally, one tore loose and he angrily flung it off the side of the bed, immediately tearing at the second. It took him a good amount of time to rid himself of the three left and clamber to his feet. Even the act of standing on the soft bed made his paws ache and he focused on that first. 

Forever. It felt like forever before he could focus on human hands, human feet. He pictured the humans that had been in the room, the shape of their bodies, using them as templates as he tried to remember the shape of his own. He drew in a deep breath through his nose, held it, and pushed. 

Nothing. 

Frustrated, he scratched at the bed sheets, kicking them back with his feet and turning in circles as if that would shake the cobwebs loose. _Human. I am human. I deserve to be human shaped._ He growled and shook his head, tore at the bedsheets again. _Do this. Do this for your life. Do this for_

_Do this for your cub._

The thought of Grace stilled him, the glimpse of the Rachel’s conversation playing through his mind again. He needed to see his little girl again and there was only one way that would happen. She would never, ever have a fic for a father. She deserved better. 

He spread his feet out, head tilted down, eyes closing. Again, he focused on his body, this time not grasping for details so much as giving the parts generic assignments. _Fingers, toes, legs, arms, torso, knees, elbow._ Danny chanted them in his head, over and over like a mantra. 

The pain that tore through him nearly made him stop. He yelped loudly but clung to the sensation of something moving _within_ his body, panting harshly. Bones, lengthening in his legs, joints shifting forward with jerks that nearly made him fall on his face. The muscles stretched and twisted and burned like fire. He tried to focus on his breathing but all that came out was another loud squall that was frankly embarrassing even for the amount of pain he was in. 

Distantly, he heard the door burst open and felt a hand run the length of his back, voice soothing. There were other voices, questioning tones, but he couldn’t tell what they were saying. He had to focus on himself, keep pushing. 

In front of his face, the long snout receeded to barely visible and he stared at his paws, toes becoming fingers, the fur receeding away. He flexed his fingers slowly and the sharp claws became fingernails. Normal, human fingernails. 

He drew in a shuddering breath as the pain became a sharp ache that he was used to, side heaving. He felt longer, wider, bigger. He kept his eyes close, wiggling fingers and toes, his nose, scenting his surroundings, the sweat on his body starting to dry and chill him. He drew in another breath, gathering himself to get into his hands and knees, when he felt a hand on his back - 

_His first meal in who knew how long, Danny tore at the meat, burying his face in it, the scent of blood dancing as it coated his snout and teeth and tongue. They starved them, made them hungrier for the fight, and the only way to eat was to win. He tore another strip of meat loose as the crowds whooped above him, the animal dying under his paws._

_He didn’t care. It was his nature. He was fox and he would die if he didn’t eat. He won, he ate. The dirty floor around him slowly became red and he was so caught up in finally, finally feeding that he didn’t realize they came for him. A gloved hand grabbed him by the scruff and roughly pulled him away, a cruel voice telling him he’d had enough-_

Danny whirled and snapped at the hand, body protesting at the sudden movement. He pushed back, his body hitting the headboard, crouching, ready to defend himself if need be as he glared at - 

At Kono, Meka, Chin. At McGarrett, hands up as he stood at the end of the bed, the way he held his body looking like he was ready to fight if it came down to that. Not the arena. The arena was gone, He was not that bloodthirsty animal. He was human. 

He wrapped his arms around his naked knees, touching his head down and drawing in a deep breath, eyes closed. Swallowing hard, he looked up again. When the word passed his lips, it was so dry, so rough, so soft he might have just imagined he spoke at all. It hurt but the effort, he needed to make it. 

"Hungry.” 


	7. Seven

Meka and Chin used to work with the guy, sure, but beyond vague recognition, the presence of either one seemed to make no impact on Danny’s behavior. The former fox continued to crouch at the head of his pillow, naked as the day he was born (Steve definitely was going to need new pillows), watching them all with a guarded expression, nose occasionally twitching as if scenting the air. Aside from a quiet request for food after the shift between animal and man, he stated otherwise quiet. It took Steve a moment that he wouldn’t move because so far, that was the only position in the room that kept his back covered.

“Hey. Could you give me a moment with him?” Steve asked softly, making a point of turning his own back to Danny when he spoke to his team. _See? I trust you won’t hurt me._ Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. Who knew what happened to him during the time he’d been missing, how he would react, but he had his team watching his back.

“Look, he’s practically a cornered animal with all of us here right now,” he said quietly. “A little one on one might help and as leader of this team, I am the only one who will be in harm’s way in case he turns once he has someone alone, all right?” Meka’s face screwed up, ability to obey at war with wanting to protest. Finally, his expression settled into a scowl.

“No offense, boss, but he worked with Chin and I first. He might feel more at ease - “

Steve nabbed a thumb over his shoulder. “He’s been gone six months. How much do you think the six months you knew him is going to fare against what’s been done to him? I’ve seen people break in less time than that and become entirely different,” he whispered. “So I will be the one staying here with him. Someone needs to go throw something on the grill.” He glanced back at where Danny still crouched, watching them intently. “Several somethings,” he amended. “And something for yourselves.”

A starving man couldn’t eat his fill at the risk of causing stomach issues, not to mention he might not know when to stop, but Steve wasn’t about to skimp either. He held up his hands and made a silent shooing motion, Chin having to tug Meka from the room by his elbow.

Finally, he was alone. Steve turned back to the bed to find Danny gone. A moment later, he heard the soft sound of someone relieving themselves behind the shut bathroom door, followed by the flush. So being a fox for several months hadn’t made him entirely uncivilized.

The door swung open and Danny stepped out with one of Steve’s towels slung around his waist, watching Steve intently as he planted himself in the doorway. His head tilted and for the first time, Steve realized the shift was aborted close to the end, one eye human while the other remained fox. He suppressed a small shiver at the eerie look and dropped his eyes, only to be unable to take his eyes off the scars.

Where the collar had once been around his neck as a fox, Danny’s neck now bore raw marks that looked like someone tried to strangle him with an electrical cord wrapped several times around. There were very old scars, pre-disappearance scars, at the place between neck and shoulder, and dropping down further, covered by a dusting of hair, it looked like a shark had tried to take a bite out of Danny’s side at some point. Steve mentally tried to recalibrate, shrinking Danny down to a fox, the bite to the proper size, and trying to figure out what animal might have done it. 

He was skinny, underfed, but still enough muscle definition from running and fighting on four legs was visible. There were other scars, but Steve ceased cataloguing them when Danny angrily snapped at him, then pointed at his own eyes. Steve’s mouth dropped open, whether to apologize or explain, he wasn’t sure, when Danny’s lip curled and he growled at him, revealing a tooth that was just slightly sharper than the average human’s. 

“Sorry,” Steve said, holding up his hands, “I’m just, ah, appalled at what was done to you.” Better blunt honesty than to sugar coat it. Danny tilted his head, as if weighing the sincerity, then shrugged. “Can you talk? Do you remember how to talk?” Steve ventured.

Danny gave him a deadpan look, then pointed to his head, then mouth, then waved a hand through the air. Then he pointed to his neck, fingers hovering over the marks to indicate tightness. Steve closed his eyes. “I have...no idea what any of that meant.” Again, he got another growl that sounded like it tore up Danny’s throat just to make (and he swore he caught a flinch) and he held up his hand.

Padding over to the bed, he sat down heavily as if his legs were too tired to hold him up much longer. Even his expression was starting to show his weariness and Steve wondered how much longer he would have survived in the ring if he hadn’t gotten lose. Danny held up a hand to him, the palm still marked up from when he’d been a fox, then pointed to his head. He then thrust his hand towards the ceiling like something escaping. 

Steve snapped his fingers. “Words? Uh, thoughts? Thoughts,” he echoed as Danny nodded to him, arm dropping into his lap. After a small rest, he motioned to his mouth. Something coming out of his mouth. “Those are words,” Steve added quickly, earning a nod of approval. Then Danny motioned from his head, but pulled up just short of his mouth. He did the same from the front of his face to the corner of his mouth, then waved his hand as if to say ‘cut it'.

Steve’s eyes softened in sympathy. “You’re having trouble making human thought and expression connect?” he asked quietly. His message finally across, Danny nodded slowly and twisted at the towel, looking uncomfortable. Then he motioned to his throat. “I’m guessing that means ‘hurts.’” Thumbs up.

Turning to the chest of drawers, Steve pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, carefully laying them on the bed before he backed up again. “I’m, uh, Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, leader of the Five-0 task force,” he explained, feeling like an idiot when Danny’s eyes narrowed coolly. “But I guess after our run ins, you probably picked that up.”

Choosing to ignore that, Danny slowly stood up and dropped the towel, Steve’s head snapping to the side to avoid seeing the detective’s junk. _Too late._ He wasn’t a small man. Steve pinched the bridge of his nose, clearing his throat as he closed his eyes. “I thought we could get you fed, then maybe take you to the doctor. You-”

A sound made him open his eyes and he found Danny standing right in front of him - when had he even _moved_ \- glaring up at him, shaking his head vehemently. “Why not?” Steve asked, causing Danny to scowl and point at his mouth again. “So what, are you going to become my foxy new roommate?” he demanded. Danny stared at him for a moment, his hand suddenly moving quicker than expected, palm on Steve’s hand and shoving.

For the bad shape he was in, he was still far stronger than expected. Steve, caught off guard, ended up sliding down the wall into his ass. His hands went up. “The fox thing was low. Sorry.” Rolling his eyes, Danny backed away from him, arms crossing tightly over his chest. The t-shirt lay abandoned on the bed, appraised and discarded. Apparenly his human shame only went as far as the male parts, which Steve was thankful it extended that far. If he was going to end up with a roommate for a few days, the last thing he wanted to explain was the naked man running around his yard, however pleasant his ass might have been.

“Okay, let’s just get some food in you, okay? Then maybe we can try talking more.” Danny didn’t bat an eye, but his stomach did rumble loudly and he lifted his head to scent at the air. Steve inhaled deeply as well, but all he caught was the faint scent of unwashed human. _Reminder, get him in the shower later,_ Steve thought. Apparently a scrub down while foxed wasn’t going to do it. 

Danny started for the door, then stopped, staring at the knob. His hand want around it and he seemed to struggle with twisting it - until the whole damn knob came off in his hand. He growled and tossed it on the ground, lifting a leg to kick at the door. “Hey!” Steve snapped, reaching out for his arm.”How about we not destr-” 

He yanked away from Steve, moving quickly to put his back at the wall again. Wild eyes locked on him, heavily stubbled jaw working as he ran his hands through the blond hair that stuck out in all directions. When Steve started to slowly move towards him, the expression turned defensive, eyes narrowing as he growled softly again and bared teeth.

Steve immediately stepped back. “Sorry,” he said softly, for the second time since Danny de-foxed. Maybe he should have let Meka handle it. “I’m...this isn’t my forte. Ask my team, they would say I’m not a people person in the technical terms,” he explained, not sure how much Danny was understanding. At a loss, he held out his hand to him. “I won’t yell again. Look.” He reached over to slot a finger through where the knob had been, pulling the door open. “You want to go get something to eat? We can do that now.” 

The scent of something meat had drifted upstairs and now Steve was even beginning to feel the hunger. He started to move for the door when Danny caught the hand, inhaling against the skin of Steve’s wrist. His breath as he exhaled sent a little shiver down Steve’s spine and Danny’s eyes closed as he grasped Steve’s hand with both of his and nuzzled his cheek against it. Steve swallowed gently and, careful not to make any sudden moves, curled his fingers to ease into the oily hair right behind Danny’s ear. The reaction was a soft purr that brought a small smile to Steve’s face, the possibility that maybe they were starting to build something, when Danny yanked away. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, fingers working into his hair and grasping tightly, making it stick up in even wilder spikes.

Steve quickly grabbed his wrists. “Hey,” he said soothingly, trying to get him to release his death grip before he pulled his hair out the same way he did the bedroom door knob. Danny looked up at him, scared, those mismatched eyes crinkling up with worry. 

“Not,” he whispered, the words barely perceptible to Steve’s hearing. He leaned in as Danny spoke again. He felt a pang in his heart as he heard the note of desperation there. “Animal.”


	8. Eight

There were too many people.

Even just four sent Danny into a panic as he stood at the top of the stairs, listening to them move around, talk in quiet voices. Talk about him, about the shape he was in, as if he couldn’t hear them. He shouldn’t have been able to, no normal human being should have, but he hadn’t been normal in a few years. Hell, he was even more fucked up now than when this shifter issue came thundering down on his head with all the grace of a drunk elephant. He traced his fingers over the white scars along his collarbone, his neck. The marks left by the asshole who left him in this shape, left him for dead. 

Steve turned at the bottom of the stairs, gazing expectantly up at Danny. So Tall, Dark, and Lethal did have a softer side, as evidenced by his attempt to communicate with Danny, and it made him extremely uncomfortable. When did a firm hand and blunt criticism become preferable? At least then, he knew where he stood with people. This...pity, it made him nervous and it pissed him off in equal measure. He was a goddamn mess but pity, pity never sat well with him. He’d seen enough pity in his lifetime to

_Why can’t I remember anything more than that?_ His mind felt like a damn labyrinth, the directions lost so long ago, he wasn’t even sure where to begin. There were times when he was on the right path, remembering Gracie, recognizing Meka, Chin Ho, knowing he used to be a cop, then he would blunder into a dead end. _Why_ did he hate pity so much? It was an unlikeable sentiment to be on the receiving end of, sure, but why did he? What specifically? Who was he even before they’d chained him with silver? 

Danny sunk down on the top step, arms crossing over his bare stomach as he hunkered forward. He was starving but he didn’t want to go down there with all of them. Too many, too many hands to grab, to hurt. He uncrossed his arms to press his palms into his eyes, rubbing hard as if that would shake something loose. In his agitated state, it was all too easy to slip into the simplicity of the animal instincts that lay just beneath the surface. _Run. Run away. Leave the humans behind, cub is better off._

Then Steve was standing right in front of him, slowly reaching out to take his wrists and pull his hands away. Steve smelled...well, Steve smelled. Scents weren’t easily identified like that. He smelled like warm, human man but there was something else that just made Danny want to trust him. That made Steve dangerous. He pulled his wrists away and scooted until his back hit the wall, making it clear that distance was to be maintained between them. Steve held up his hands. “Okay, okay. I’ll bring you up a plate.” 

Once he pattered back down the stairs, Danny blew out a breath and shifted his position to a corner, tucking himself as far back as he could get. That left less direction for them to come at him from. He caught Chin glancing up the stairs and as soon as their eyes locked, the other man’s mouth turned up in a sympathetic smile and he looked away, talking in low murmurs to Meka again. 

Steve returned, plate in hand, and it smelled like heaven. Warm, fresh meat that Danny didn’t need to kill himself, wasn’t another like him, and a pile of fresh fruit, the thought of that sweetness making his mouth water and his stomach rumble painfully. He was starving and yet, as Steve set the plate nearby, he just stared at it. _Drugged. Bait. Learn to trust, then take it all away. Punishment._ He made no move to pull it closer, which left Steve reaching for it again.

Despite his reluctance, sudden terror that he would take it away gripped him and Danny’s arm shot out, snatching the plate and pulling it closer, teeth bared in a snarl. His earlier effort to keep what little fang remained hidden from the humans was lost in instinctive food guarding and Steve quickly raised his hands, stepping back. Danny stared at him, watching, waiting until he’d gotten to the bottom and then turned away to rejoin the others. 

Once they were focused on something else, he tentatively picked up a burger, sniffed at it, and when he couldn’t seem to find anything wrong with it, he took a giant bite out of it. The moment the meat hit his tongue, he tore another mouthful off, stuffing it into his mouth like the starving animal that he was. He closed his eyes, savoring the taste as he chewed. It wasn’t raw meat - if he needed anymore indication of his lost humanity, his cravings for something bloodier filled that - but it was heaven all the same. The second burger met the same fate as the first, decimated messily as fast as he could push it into his mouth.

_Feral, feral human. Not human, not animal. Freak. Broken freak._

He tried to ignore the cruel voice in his head as he switched tracks, plucking squares of fruit off the plate and devouring them, sucking the juice off his fingers. Such a simple meal and yet it meant the world to him. Still, he wanted more and he quickly discarded the plate and took the stairs two at a time, following his nose straight for the kitchen. He hopped up onto the chair next to the table, crouched down and reached over to pull the plate still holding several more burgers towards him. 

“Whoa, Danny, I don’t think that’s a good id-” This time, Danny shoved into Steve and snarled at him again, but he pushed back. “No.” Stern, firm, but without the edge of cold cruelty he was used to. Danny stared up at him defiantly, but Steve refused to back down. “I’ve got this,” he added and Danny picked up on the presence of someone else in the kitchen, but he wouldn’t look. “In fact, everyone pack up and go home.”

“Steve-” Chin. It was Chin standing there, speaking in concern, ready to jump in at a moment’s notice to subdue him if he got out of control. _Too many humans._

“Chin, please. Just go home, tell Meka and Kono to go home as well,” Steve said softly, never taking his eyes off Danny. “I’ll be alright. Danny isn’t going to hurt me, is he?” he asked, his voice never rising above quiet. Danny’s hand flexed in his grip and then he yanked it back, tucking it between his thighs and stomach. Steve stood up a little straighter, expression relieved. 

“No, Steve, it’s not that, though I am a little worried about leaving you alone with him,” Chin replied, his expression apologetic at the scowl Danny aimed his way. Steve spread his hands, his expression that of a man who didn’t understand why his ability to handle something was being questioned. Danny was with Chin on that one. Unless Commander McGarrett had previous experience in the area, what made him so assured he could handle Danny? Especially when Danny could barely handle the conflicting natures inside his own head? “Fong just called. You taking over Danny’s case, it got around…” He blew out a breath. “While processing the mess that was Bane’s mobile office, so to speak - “ Danny squeezed his eyes shut, the mere mention of the man threatening to decimate what little calm he’d acquired. _Tear out his throat, watch him bleed. Traitor._

“They found a crate full of random things. Keys, jewelry, wallets, purses. As they started pulling IDs, they got hits in the computer to missing persons cases. Here, on the mainland.” Chin huffed out a breath. “They found Danny’s things among them, Steve. He’s now connected to the case.”


	9. Nine

_Danny blacked out before the torture stopped. Once the bastard grew bored with waterboarding him, he moved on to artfully carving into Danny’s skin, taking all the care of a man tattooing another, not serving up turkey on Thanksgiving Day. By the time he finished the intricate pattern in his forearm, the human in Danny’s mind long retreated, allowing the fox to curl around it protectively. His lip curled up in a snarl, baring elongated incisors, the extent of the half-shift coming over him as he strained against his bonds, claws digging into the wooden arms. The few times it happened before, the sheer unnatural appearance made Danny withdraw, fear and an anxious mind creating scenarios of what would happen if someone saw him that way._

_He no longer cared now. He wanted blood, to sink those very fangs into the neck of the human hurting him, bleeding him, drawing from him in reparation for what pattered onto the dirty floor around the chair. Danny and fox wanted to survive and the combined effort meant for once, they were stronger than ever before. The more he threw his body, the more he strained at his bonds, he could feel them weaken slowly, slowly, then the wood gave with an ominous snapping noise and he only hesitated a moment in surprise before he pushed off._

_There was no scream, barely a struggle._

_It was the dead man under him that snapped Danny out of the feral rage that took over his mind. He stumbled back, wiping at his mouth frantically, trying to force the fox back before it did anything else. He was a survivor, but he was not this savage creature. That was exactly what Bane wanted and hell if he was going to give him that. Danny counted back from twenty, closing his eyes and focusing on the breaths as he huffed out each number, his heart beginning to slow from the frantic pace in his chest. Slowly, the signs of the fox began to retreat from his features, he was able to think again, formulate a plan._

_They left what clothing they’d stripped him off in a pile for later removal. Quickly pulling on his socks and tying his shoes, he tugged the kevlar vest back over his chest. With no weapon, every advantage he had needed to be taken. The door made too much noise for his comfort, rusty hinges and weight making it groan as he pushed it far enough to slide out, pressing a shoulder against the wall as he silently took off down the hall, eyes and ears alert to any hint of an approach._

_He heard the faint sound of water lapping up against the side of something, a promise of a close exit, right before he heard the low, rumbling growl behind him. A predator shared space in Danny’s head, but it knew when it was outclassed. He felt the fox hunker down in fear as he slowly turned to face the animal steadily approaching him through the shadows._

_The tiger padded into the light given off by a naked lightbulb above their heads, licking its lips speculatively as it stared up at Danny. Its haunches tensed, eyes locking on his. A spark of familiarity hit Danny just then, combined with the scent from earlier. “Bane,” he whispered. The world slowed to a crawl as he turned, focusing on that sound he’d picked up on earlier, the sound of water moving, the promise of freedom._

_Danny ran. Bane pounced._

\----------

Steve flicked through the pictures Fong sent over once more, as if they’d reveal something to him the fifth time around that they didn’t the first four. It was the last that he hesitated on again, the kevlar vest, dirty and shredded on the back. The sheer size of the tears sent a chilly prickle down his back as he tried to decide on what made them, other than something big. The only good to come out of it, as Chin wrested out of Duke, was that Danny’s coworkers were fully convinced now that he was a victim, not an ally. 

That also put a timer on Danny’s rehabilitation. If the investigation turned up evidence of foul play regarding any of the IDs they found, they would begin declaring the dead if there was enough evidence. People were declared dead with less than a torn kevlar vest and that...that would crush Grace. Just the thought of letting that little girl down after the promise he made was like being stabbed in the heart with an icepick. The heartache was enough to take his breath away. 

Danny wasn’t dead, but he certainly wasn’t in a state that they could present him to HPD either. The unnerving gaze that was too obviously man and animal, the faint flash of fang when he smiled too widely...he was still too _animal_. Questions would be asked and that would lead down a rabbit hole that Steve, with all the experience he’d accumulated from classified missions, knew the general public wouldn’t be able to handle. The only ones that knew now were the ones he trusted without a doubt, sent home to their families. 

Shutting down the tablet, he slipped it back into the carrying case to return to the office in the morning and rose up from his seat, fingers slipping through his hair and hesitating there, eyes closing wearily. In less than twenty four hours, his entire world had turned upside down and he was no closer to figuring out how to process it now than he was when he closed his eyes the night before. Bane’s men attacking him, that was barely a blip on the McGarrett radar in comparison to finding out that there were people out there who could shift into animals, that a missing detective he’d promised to find for his daughter had taken up residence in his house and - 

Was padding past the kitchen doorway towards the lanai, showered and bare ass naked with an armful of blankets and pillows. Steve’s mouth opened slightly and then he darted around the table, nearly sprawling ungracefully when his foot caught on the edge of a chair not properly pushed in. Catching the doorway, he pulled himself upright and slowed, following instead of chasing as Danny stepped outside and to the corner of the lanai, tossing down blankets and pillows. As Steve watched from the doorway, he pushed and pulled the pile until he found it satisfactory, then sprawled out, closing his eyes.

Steve’s jaw dropped slightly. He didn’t need to be an animal expert to know that _Danny was denning in his backyard._ He blew out a breath, fingers interlacing on top of his head as he stared at the pile, trying to figure out how best to proceed. Option one was to wake him up and shepherd him back upstairs into the guest room he’d set up for him. That option also came with the possibility of being snapped at and the next full moon, Steve could grow fur of his own. If that was the way it worked.

Option two seemed the best way to go: let Danny spend the night out there, making sure he was adequately shielded against the early morning chill, then start the morning off by reestablishing human behaviors. Steve’s own exhaustion played a small role in settling on that option as well, not sure if he could handle fighting with him. Danny was smaller in stature, skinny from malnutrition and terrible care, but still built solid and stronger from his other nature. 

Yeah, that was a rare fight that Steve was not willing to engage in at the moment. 

He shuffled up the stairs, bypassing his own bedroom to the one that doubled as storage. “Never in a million years,” he murmured as he flipped the switch, glancing over the designations written on boxes until he came to the one he wanted. The items he’d been looking for were at the bottom, two old but still functional baby monitors from when Mary Ann was born. Steve returned to his own bedroom, grabbing a blanket from the closet, batteries from the drawer in the kitchen, then headed back out on the lanai.

Danny opened one eye to peer at him as he approached. Silently, he held up the blanket, shaking it out and then draping it over Danny’s naked body. He curled up under it, wild blond hair the only thing visible, made a soft sound, then went still again. Steve rest a hand on his shoulder, setting one of the baby monitor walkies beside him on the ground. “Rest up, buddy. There’s still a long couple of days ahead of us,” he murmured. His hand stayed there a moment, just long enough to reinforce _good_ human contact, then he got to his feet, heading back into the house. 

After the night before, it was hard not to arm the security system, but all he needed was Danny trying to get in and setting the whole thing off. Still, as sensitive as his hearing was, Danny could easily double as a guard fox - as long as he didn’t sleep too deeply. 

Steve set his baby monitor walkie on the bedside table before he flopped into bed face first, one leg dangling off while one arm tucked under the pillow and another sprawled over the empty bed beside him. He meant to move at some point, but exhaustion hit him so hard and fast that Steve never got to a better position before he drifted off into a dreamless oblivion. 

\--------

Danny woke to the slight damp feel of morning dew settling over his skin, the sun just starting to peer over the horizon. He blinked rapidly, his vision slowly focusing in on the backyard, taking in the chairs pointed out towards the ocean, the neatly kept yard, the lanai that he’d spent the entire night sleeping on. As he started to move, his body threw a variety of aches and pains at him that made him want to curl back up under the blanket and never emerge again, a want quickly discarded when his stomach rumbled ominously. 

_Why did I do this to myself?_

Last night, it seemed like _the_ thing to do after bathing. Now, after several hours of sleep and two full meals the day before, creating a den on the lanai seemed like the last thing to do when he had a bed for his use, a roof over his head. Steve. Steve who he felt like he could trust, but he wasn’t sure why, so the trust created suspicion and the two warred in his head until he decided to separate himself from the situation to get a little quiet back. 

Sliding out from under the covers, he slowly climbed to his feet, wincing as his knee almost gave out under him and sent him falling face first onto the lanai

_-the runner was coming in hot from third, the ball still in the outfield. If they didn’t stop the play then and there, the small lead they had over their opponents would fade and that would be it. Season done. Danny tore off his mask and lunged to his feet, smacking a fist in his glove as he shouted for them to get him the ball. That was the right play, the only play. He rushed for home plate as the pitcher turned towards him, arm canted back to throw as Danny lifted his glove._

_Then they collided, catcher and runner, the entire world spinning like an out of control amusement park ride as Danny tumbled to the ground, white hot pain shooting through his knee-_

Danny blinked wildly and stared down at his knee, able to trace the faint surgical scars there in the dim morning light with his fingertip. _Baseball._ He was good once, wasn’t he? Very good. 

And now he was naked. While not as much a problem as it should have been, he was still in the backyard of a practical stranger with nothing on like it was his own personal Garden of Eden. The back door open (which he found odd after he’d interrupted Steve being attacked), he silently snuck upstairs and into the bedroom. His sweatpants were just where he’d left them, a pile in the bathroom.

He hesitated on his way out, plucking a shirt up and tugging it on as well. It strained a little across the chest but it smelled strongly of Steve, something he found comforting right then. On the bed, Steve made a soft snorting sound and then resumed his quiet, vibrating snore, face pressed against the pillow, mouth open and the fabric slightly damp with drool. Danny didn’t need to wake him up to get food, so he turned back towards the door. 

“ _Freddie_.” To normal human hearing, the word might have been lost, but Danny picked up on it and peered over his shoulder at the bed. Steve’s fingers started to twitch as if grasping at something, his knee jerking. “Not - _not_ \- you need to -” His face screwed up in anguish, breath coming faster. Danny froze, uncertain what to do. His instinct by far was to run away from the panicking human, but something wouldn’t let him, not quite yet. 

Steve’s hand balled up in the sheets and he turned his head, burying his face in the pillow. Tighter and tighter he squeezed the sheet until Danny heard a muffled ‘ _goddamnit_ ’ and he went still. The moment he realized Steve was finally stirring from sleep, Danny quickly slipped out the door and down to the kitchen, fully occupied with food stolen from the fridge and curled up under the table when Steve finally stumbled in.


	10. Ten

“Steve, if this belonged to anyone else, I would be worried. Possibly considering them a stalking suspect.”

Glancing at Chin out of his peripheral vision so he could keep an eye on the road, Steve caught his partner balancing the thick binder on top of the pizza boxes on his lap, paging through. “I need all the information available, Chin,” he muttered, grip tightening on the wheel as his voice came out quieter, almost sheepish. Then, he admitted, “I have no idea what I’m doing here and getting a professional involved right now is out.” 

The binder itself took nearly an entire ream of paper, carefully separated into labeled sections and each one painstakingly gone through, highlighted where important. All the information he could find on Danny: background, personnel files, missing person’s case file. Information he’d acquired on foxes, advice given by the people dedicated enough to own one of those animals. Information on PTSD and less on aphasia, one area that seemed like it would be relevant yet he wasn’t entirely sure on. It was the last sheet that Chin slid out, Steve’s handwriting in the margins surrounding the printed pictures.

“American Sign Language?” Chin asked, brow furrowing as he held it up. The look only grew more troubled as he started reading Steve’s notes. “‘I am bad,’” he said softly. “Steve, what is this? What’s going on?” 

Steve eased the truck to a stop at the light, leaning back and running a hand through his hair. “Danny is starting to exhibit more human behaviors than fox, though he’s still showing preferences towards raw meals and he’s stopped denning on the lanai, but he prefers sleeping outside in a hammock and wearing pants at least. He was also showing immense frustration at the communication gap between us. I came home the second day after we acquired him and found he’d dug out Mary Ann’s old flashcards. I even tried to help and bought him a Speak and Spell.” Steve made a face, his nose wrinkling up. “That didn’t go so well. His hand gestures made it very clear that he could still spell just fine.”

Chin’s brows shot up. “Sign language,” he said, catching on to the double meaning behind Steve’s words. Steve nodded slowly.

“I couldn’t tell what he was saying. Mare had a friend when we were kids who was deaf and she taught us a few words but none of those were it.” Steve eased down on the gas, driving through the intersection. “So I recognized it. I did a little digging into his background after. He took classes at Seton Hall. So we’re working out this system where he spells slowly and I write the letters down as I locate them. It’s still slow but it’s a step forward.”

Mulling over that quietly, Chin slid the paper back into the binder and closed it, placing it on the floorboard between the two of them. “So that phrase?” he asked finally, deciding it was better to pry gently. 

Steve held up a hand. “He dropped a dish, got caught pissing on a bush, stalked the neighbor’s cat. The last two I gently corrected him on, the first I told him it wasn’t a big deal, but he started to get agitated. Then he turns on himself.” He stared through the windshield, suddenly feeling very tired. Danny was smaller in stature, but he was muscular and that was without the addition of the unnatural strength he seemed to be imbued with. “He balls up his fists and starts slamming them into his thighs, knees, anywhere he can reach, especially when I have to wrestle him down to pin him. He’s bruised himself up, Chin. And then when I asked him why he did that after the last time, that’s what he signed to me.” He blew out a breath, running a hand over his face. “The look of defeat on his face…”

It was absolutely haunting, but not unfamiliar. Steve saw that look on the face of men and women in the territories he served in, people who couldn’t escape from the violence between their supposed saviors and the fanatical groups claiming they hurt them because they cared. People who lost all hope of escaping the hell they were imprisoned in. It was a look he saw in the eyes of his own men after combat missions gone wrong, what they carried home with them. It was a look that, late at night, Steve suspected someone might see in his own eyes when his demons came calling.

Chin sat silently beside him. “It makes sense,” he stated finally, Steve finding something steadying about the way he spoke. Chin was always a level headed presence in the face of chaos, an immense talent in a world like theirs. “From what we’ve gathered so far, the only thing Bane displayed any regard for was what someone paid him for. People who fight dogs don’t care about their wellbeing, so they’re not going to discipline them carefully. If something displeases them…” he trailed off, waving a hand. “It makes sense that it would be the same between Bane, Bane’s people, and the animals forced to fight for entertainment.”

Steve pressed his lips together tightly, gripping the steering wheel harder, glaring at the back end of the Toyota in front of him as if it caused most of his problems. “It would make sense to ask animal control about the animals they removed from premises, but I’m not sure I want to know,” he said softly, shaking his head. “The behaviors they’re displaying.” 

Fingers tapping on the box lid, still deep in thought, Chin bit his lip. “None of them were wearing collars like Danny was, indicating that he may have been the only shifter among them too. I never thought of that before.”

“Neither did I.” Hitting the turn signal, Steve swung onto the street, easing up on the gas. “I’m still trying to process that shifters exist, which is one more reason I’m at a loss here. I can’t just put out an ad, asking for advice, or ask his daughter. I can’t put that kind of a secret on a kid,” he vented, throwing out a hand, frustrated. “The only thing I can do is just...keep him from hurting himself and coax him back, help him reestablish human behaviors.” 

“And that is all that can be asked of anyone in a situation they’re out of their depth in,” Chin agreed. Steve caught the glance out of the corner of his eye, a scowl forming when he realized he knew exactly what went with that look. “No, Chin, this is not a discussion we’re having right now.” 

Chin held up his hands. “I’m just saying, Steve, you brought your own baggage home. It might be healthy for you to meet other people in the same way, discuss and listen, know you’re not alone. That’s what a group is fo-”

“Not me,” Steve interrupted. “End of discussion.” To punctuate the statement, he held up the finger that Kono labeled the ‘benevolent dictator finger of finality’. 

Some days he missed obedience of his men.

\-------------

It wasn’t the sound of Steve’s motor. 

Danny carefully scrambled down the drainpipe on the side of the house, landing lightly in the grass and silently sprinting to the corner, peering around. The tension in his body eased slightly when he saw Meka emerge from his car, then start to pull a few suitcases out of the backseat and heading for the front door. His head tilted quizzically and he left his spot, darting back around to the back of the house and in the open lanai door, meeting the man in the living room.

Meka swore softly as he turned to find Danny standing there, dropping a suitcase and leaning back against the door. “I’m putting a goddamned bell on you,” he muttered, setting the other suitcase down. He bent over, unzipping one and then turned to throw a fabric bundle at Danny, who caught it and stared in confusion as it unfurled in his hands to reveal a dark blue button up shirt. He transferred his confusion to Meka, who waved his hands at him. 

“Steve asked me to go get your clothes. Granted, I had to lie to your ex-wife and tell her they were going to be relooked over for evidence with the reopened case and Steve owes me big time for that, but now you have something to wear that’s yours.” As Meka spoke, Danny buried his face in the shirt and inhaled deeply. Sure enough, he couldn’t really smell anything on the clothing except the faint scent of something that sat in storage for a few months and cologne. He could never smell himself, not his usual day to day scent anyway. The cologne, however, triggered a sense of familiarity in his head. 

He pulled off the t-shirt Steve gave him to wear around and tugged on his own, crookedly buttoning up and showing Meka, arms thrown out as if to ask his opinion. Meka nodded slowly, the pulled a pair of pants from the suitcase to toss to him. “Why don’t you take those - okay, you have a lot less shame than you used to,” he said quickly, spinning around to put his back to Danny as he dropped his shorts and pulled the pants on, unaware of his own nudity and the discomfort it caused Meka. 

Danny padded over and tapped on his shoulder. “Look at you,” Meka said, giving him a grin. “You’re starting to look like your old self already.” Granted, he still hadn’t shifted entirely to human, Danny knew that much, but something about being in those clothes brought back an old familiarity that he mentally buried himself in - 

_”Captain, I’d like to respectfully ask what I did to earn this kind of punishment.” Danny felt a flare of annoyance, arms crossing stubbornly over his chest as he stood a few paces behind, glaring at the tall man who’d spoken, the Hawaiian glaring back at him before he turned back to the coffee maker, filling his mug._

_“You know the drill, Hanamoa. Someone needs to show Detective Williams around, get him familiar with the island. You two are going to be partners.” The captain chose that as his pointed last comment, instead striding from the break room with barely an acknowledgement of Danny as Meka took his time fixing his coffee._

_“Here’s how things are going to go,” he said finally. “You listen to what I say and you don’t give me lip, we’ll get along as we need to.”_

Danny looked up at Meka, the memory bringing a little more comfort with the man standing in front of him. Suddenly, he gave him a toothy grin, eliciting a nervous laugh from Meka, and punched the man playfully in the shoulder, his unchecked strength nearly knocking Meka flat on his face. “Okay, hold on there, Williams. Let’s play nice,” Meka muttered, rubbing his arm. Sinking down to a crouch, he shuffled in the luggage again before pulling something else out. “This is your favorite. You said Grace got it for you f-” 

Danny’s heart nearly stopped when he saw the cloth noose dangling from Meka’s hand, his mouth going dry as he suddenly stumbled backwards, hands held up. “ _No._ ” He shook his head, voice harsh, waving his hands. “ _No._ ” His erratic behavior had Meka shooting to his feet, reaching quickly for him, the movement spooking him even further because he still had the tie in hand, more worried about Danny. His hands shot out, shoving Meka away, knocking him down hard against the wall. 

_The shift came at the full moon. No matter how hard he fought it, the only thing it caused him was pain as his body continued to change regardless. Still, he stubbornly clawed against the fox pushing its way forward, establishing its hold as he felt the moon rising in the sky. His pained yells became animal yelps until he lay on the cold ground, fully changed. Danny panted hard, sides heaving, muscles shaking, unable to move, throat raw._

_That was when they struck, the chain pulling tight around his neck. He tried to fight, but when he pulled, the chain burrowed into his neck and he felt it begin to burn. He let out another loud cry and scrabbled away, only stopping once he’d backed in a corner and desperately tried to tear it off with his back foot, digging desperately._

“ _Danny!_ ” Strong arms wrapped around him from behind as he advanced on Meka, not seeing his partner but one of Bane’s men, pulling him back. Danny dropped to the ground, trying to throw the annoyance off, but the arms only tightened, one leg throwing over his to tangle him up. He wiggled around, snarling. “Danny, it’s Steve. That’s Meka. _No_.” 

Panting, Danny blinked wildly, the dark room growing lighter, softer, safer. True enough, Meka was still slumped against the wall, his accelerated heartbeat ringing in Danny’s ears, eyes wide. Danny stopped fighting, drawing in a shuddering breath. His fingers started to move in the familiar patterns, spelling out the word that pattered through his head. 

Steve’s grip tightened on his wrists and Danny felt him pull in closer, hugging him tightly back to him with the other arm. “No, no, you’re not bad, buddy. You’re a little broken, but you’re getting better. Not bad, buddy. Not bad,” he murmured softly as Danny burrowed tighter against him. “Not bad.”


	11. ELEVEN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dropped off a little with this story, between needing to do a few rewrites and getting caught up in dabbling on Tumblr, but it's come back with a vengeance, demanding to be finished. Sorry about the time between updates.

It shouldn’t have surprised Steve that someone with the commendations listed in Danny’s file would become so single-mindedly devoted to a pursuit, but that was exactly what Danny did after nearly maiming Meka. After that afternoon, he’d spent the day in the guest room Steve cleared out for him to stay in, then emerged the next afternoon while he was at work. That was the beginning of the post it notes. Five at first, then more each day, various colors stuck to random objects around the house. When Steve finally asked about the strange behavior, Danny haltingly told him that those objects had been part of full sentences spoken out loud. After that, Steve found the increasing number of the sticky notes made him smile when he arrived home in the evenings. 

With that came small little attempts to not only act more human, but feel it as well. When he expressed a desire for a haircut, Steve approached it like a mission, Danny’s DMV photo, a pair of scissors, and an electric razor in hand. As it turned out, Danny was not a fan of having his hair touched by other people and eventually Meka had to step in, used to a squirming body in the seat, while Steve practically held him down so they could finish the job. After it was done, Danny snarled under his breath at them and then disappeared up on the roof with one of the Tupperware meals Steve put together for him to have while he was at work. 

Still, for every step forward, there were still bluntly animalistic behaviors that Danny seemed to have a hard time shaking. Steve finally managed to get him to move into the guest room, where he slept for two nights before deciding to join Steve in the middle of the night, nose buried against his neck and curled up to his body. Steve immediately marched him back to his bed, explaining that it wasn’t a good idea and trying to ignore the hurt look on Danny’s face, which left him feeling guilty inside. It didn’t stop him the next night, or the night after that, and each time, Steve escorted him back to his room with a firm command to stay. 

Fresh off his morning swim, Steve stared blankly at the calendar. Or more accurately, through it. He wasn’t sure how two weeks had blown past them already, but there it was in black and white. Boxes with scribbled notes, progress and regression, even an attempt by Danny to write at the week and a half mark. He picked up the red pen, the one for regressions and warnings, and scribbled a note about the violent nightmares from the night before. What unnerved him the most about them had been that it was the most human Danny sounded since he knew him, defiantly refusing to say something, do something to stop what Steve could only assume was torture. He made a frustrated expression and set the pen back down.

The trail had gone cold on Bane and yet despite all reason otherwise, Steve felt like he hadn’t left the island yet. It would be wise for him to, of course, and even with HPD keeping a close eye on all methods of leaving the island, he was a smuggler. He would find a way off if he wanted to. Yet everything remained quiet, nothing to cause suspicion. He felt like there was a storm on the horizon, promising a lot of damage and taking its time drifting in to land.

He hated it.

Turning away from the calendar, he nearly jumped out of his skin as he found Danny standing there in the doorway, fidgeting nervously. To his surprise, he’d abandoned Steve’s old Navy t-shirt that became like a security blanket to him for a pair of khakis and a buttoned up shirt untucked over. He continued to run his fingers over and over through his surprisingly wavy blond hair, looking at Steve uncertainly. When he realized he had his attention, he pointed to the coffee press on the table. “I have?” he asked.

“Sure, buddy.” Steve turned to the cupboard and retrieved a mug, pouring out a smaller amount than his own. The last thing he needed was a werefox on a caffeine high. He arched an eyebrow at him. “Do you remember if you ever tried bulletproof coffee? It’s good for the mind.”

Danny frowned and held his hands out, a wordless ‘'I don’t know’, so Steve retrieved the butter from the fridge and placed a dollop in, stirring it before he handed it to Danny. Danny sniffed it curiously, his nose wrinkling up as he wrapped both hands around it and took a wary drink, gaze locked on Steve’s. “‘'S okay,” he said finally, shrugging. “Don’t remember.” 

Steve replaced the butter in the fridge. “On the list of things to remember, that’s not all that important.” He crossed his arms and leaned back against the counter, regarding him. “How are you feeling this morning? Any better?” Another shrug followed, Danny sticking his finger in the coffee and swirling it around before sticking the finger in his mouth, avoiding Steve’s gaze. “Danny, I hate to ask this, but...the fights weren’t the only thing to cause those marks on your body, were they?” 

The shutters went down in Danny’s eyes and Steve recognized the signs of when he would retreat into his feral side as if that blocked out the harsh truths of the world he wasn’t ready to deal with. But there was a struggle there too, like he knew that anything he could remember might be of use. Sighing, he padded over to a chair, flopping down and pulling his legs up as he cuddled the mug to his chest.

“Torture to - to turn fox,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Not Bane. Called...friend.” Reluctantly, he held out his left arm to Steve. In the two weeks since he’d taken up residence at Steve’s place, he’d disappeared if anyone tried to take a closer look at his scars, almost like he was embarrassed of them. Now, Steve stepped up, gently taking the arm. The scarring there wasn’t what he expected at all, almost...artistic. And that disturbed him on a new level. Danny set the mug down to reach up and tap Steve’s arm where his tattoos were. “Many,” he added. 

“He had a lot of tattoos?” Steve asked carefully and Danny nodded, yanking his arm back to curl it over his stomach, away from sight again. Another wordless shrug and then it was back to cuddling the mug. “That could be anyone but what was done to your arm, we might be looking for someone with a certain skill set,” he mused out loud. It was something to run past the team when he got in. 

His expression softened and he stepped back from Danny again, reclaiming his own mug. “You look good today, buddy. Like your old self,” he added encouragingly, giving him a friendly smile. Danny snorted and tapped under the eye still fox-like, then the corner of his mouth where his incisors were just slightly sharper than a human’s should be, but not fully.

“Still freak.” Steve scowled. Of all the words for him to remember, that had to be one of them.

“Hey.” He set his mug in the sink and then strode over to take Danny’s chin, forcing him to look at him. “I want you to forget that word, because you’re not. Meka, Chin, Kono, none of them think so and neither do I. You’re getting better.” Danny lifted one shoulder dismissively, then closed his eyes and rubbed his face against Steve’s hand. The temptation was there to rub behind an ear before he pulled his hand away. “I have to get ready for work. You going to be good?”

Danny nodded slowly, opening his eyes and getting up from the seat to head into the living room. He heard the TV come to life, a news anchor talking about the traffic on the H2. Steve ran a hand over his face and then headed towards his bedroom. 

Another day.

\--------

The sun had set outside, though Danny kept the lanai door open for the breeze that came into the house. All shut in left him feeling trapped, in the cage once more, followed by panic settling in. At the same time, he didn’t like to spend too much time outside while Steve wasn’t there, as if it wasn’t allowed. The idea was ridiculous as Steve had never implied such a thing, but Danny couldn’t shake it either.

He retrieved one of the Tupperware containers from the fridge, settling on the arm of the couch to pop the top off, dropping it on the floor before he picked through. Steve planned the meals carefully, a mixture of fruits and veggies with the meat Danny wanted. Part of the meat was barely done while a few pieces of raw were scattered in to save his cravings. He sucked on a piece of melon, wiggling his toes on the couch cushion as he sat in silence. There were new sticky notes around the house and he was excited for Steve to come home and find them. The proud look he gave him made him feel like he was getting better and he liked making Steve happy...because.

In the last few weeks, Danny had become attached to the man who’d taken the time and energy to help him. Steve didn’t seem to feel the same from the way he kept directing Danny back to bed, but that was okay. He seemed to like him well enough. 

A sound outside caught his enhanced hearing and he stopped eating, turning his head towards the source of it. Outside, not a thing moved in the darkness, at least not until the neighbor’s feline came waltzing in like she owned the place. Danny growled, she hissed, and he took the challenge, dropping the Tupperware container on the couch and lunging after the animal that dared invade his territory. 

He thankfully avoided breaking anything of Steve’s, corralling the cat near the front door long enough to unlock it and shoo it out, since he was forbidden from eating it. The last time Danny tried that, early on in his stay, Steve became a little vocal about his disapproval, much to Danny’s chagrin. He stood in the doorway, staring out into the night and wondering when Steve would arrive home. 

The sound came again, this time from right behind him. Danny spun just in time, the dart slamming into the door frame beside his shoulder. The two men dressed in black wasted no time moving after him. He barely had time to scent the air, smelling...cat. Big cat. More tigers just like the man he had no doubt was their boss. 

They wanted him alive, to take him back to Bane. Gather up the loose end before he left the island. Heart thudding wildly in his chest, Danny turned to sprint out the door, nearly colliding with a third trying to sneak up on him. His bare feet nearly slipped out from under him as he skidded to a halt in the drive, spinning around to keep all three of them in sight at a time. 

Triggered by the adrenaline in his system, Danny felt muscle and bone begin to shift in his face. His brow deepened slightly as the one human eye shifted to match the other, fangs extending from upper and lower gums, ears extending to points. He crouched down as the fox easily nudged its way up front, teeth bared in a snarl. 

The tigers were not impressed by a fox. 

“Stop fighting it, Daniel. The quicker you surrender and come with us, the faster we can leave. The longer you fight, the more likely Commander McGarrett will arrive home and be killed. Is that the way you would reward him for his assistance?” The voice, Bane’s, came from a phone in one outstretched hand, the men watching him impassively. Danny looked to each in turn.

He could either go with them and never see freedom again or he put Steve’s life in danger. There was no good option.

No, on second thought, there was a third. Danny suddenly threw himself forward into a roll, past the man blocking his path down the driveway. He came to his feet easy and sprinted away, zig zagging as bullets kicked up dirt near his feet. They had to be desperate if they were firing at him in a residential neighborhood.

Danny skidded out onto the street. Where, he wasn’t entirely sure, but away meant that they wouldn’t be at the house when Steve came home. Two men were following after him. He didn’t see the third when he glanced back, but Steve was a SEAL. He’d seen enough to have a little faith that he evened the odds for him.

He ducked through foliage, leaped obstructions, and ran faster than any human had a right to - right up until the point that he ran out into the street, a car horn blaring loudly as the brakes were applied and the vehicle came to a halt mere inches from him. He growled and backed up, discombobulated by the headlights until the wind brought the scent of cat and a reminder of what was on his tail. He had to run.

As he sprinted away from the road, he imagined he heard a soft ‘ _Danno!_ ’

\----------

“There’s been what?” Steve demanded, staring wide-eyed at Duke Lukela. “Who - shit.” If the cops showed up, he hoped Danny had enough sense to hide...though honestly he was more worried about Danny himself. He’d shown no interest in the few weapons Steve had at home, which meant there was an altercation or someone was shooting at him.

Bane.

Steve quickly grabbed his keys, running for the door. Somewhere behind him, he heard Chin call his name, asking if he wanted backup, but he couldn’t answer. Down the stairs, out through the lobby, unaware of the looks he received. As he sprinted across the parking lot, his phone started to ring and he almost ignored it until he saw the number.

“Rachel?”

On the other end, Rachel Edwards drew in a deep, shaky breath. “Commander McGarrett, I believe I just saw my ex-husband.”


	12. Twelve

Steve hated being subtle. It took a massive amount of willpower not to flip on the Silverado’s lights and slam his foot down on the gas, but right then, he needed subtle. He needed quiet. If there was any chance that Danny was still out there, he didn’t need to take the chance that flashing lights and sirens would send him running in the opposite direction, away from Steve. He scanned the side of the streets as he drove towards Rachel’s neighborhood, looking for any sign, any shadow that maybe Danny knew who they were and followed them home without Rachel’s knowledge.

Arriving at the gate, he’d picked up on nothing. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, knuckles white, as he leaned out the door to hit the button. “Rachel? It’s Steve,” he told the intercom as it buzzed to life. Almost immediately, the gates started to open and he shifted uneasily in his seat until they were wide enough to let the truck pass through.

His intention had been to head for his own house until he received the phone call, but if Rachel spotted Danny, then that meant there was an empty house with a police presence, which was not where he needed to be. He sent Meka and Kono along to handle the situation and keep him updated while Chin stayed at headquarters as backup and support. If Danny was still on the loose, Steve would need the best to track him down again. 

Rachel waited for him on the top step, arms wrapped tightly across her stomach as if she were cold. Steve slowed the truck around the curve, an uneasy feeling starting to creep in. He couldn’t put a finger on why but there was something wrong about the situation. Rachel was almost too still for a woman who had nearly accidently run over her missing ex-husband. Her face was pale, strands of dark hair blowing gently around her face as he approached, sliding his keys in his pocket. 

“You okay?” Steve asked quietly, reaching out to put a hand on her elbow. Rachel quickly stepped away, back towards the house, nodding. 

“Fine, Commander, but certainly wanting answers. You seemed unsurprised that Danny was alive and around,” she said softly before turning on her heel and heading into the house. Steve followed after her, distracted by the beginnings of trying to explain to her exactly what was going on. Danny’s secret was his own and yet, how did he explain around it? Rachel struck him as someone who could keep quiet but how well did he really know her?

Apparently not well at all.

Something metal pressed between his shoulderblades and his hands slowly moved out to his sides, breath hitching in his throat. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Commander,” a voice chided him softly, then shoved him roughly in the shoulder. “You are going to join Mrs. Edwards on the couch without a fight. If you try anything, it won’t only end badly for you, but her and the kid.” And as soon as Steve felt betrayed, it dissolved into the realization that Rachel had no choice. Between her daughter and Steve, she’d made the only choice she could as a mother and Steve couldn’t bear her any ill will over that.

It didn’t mean that he enjoyed being manhandled. The man behind him wouldn’t even allow him to sit under his own power, pushing him down the moment Steve began to sink to the cushions. Rachel landed hard on the cushion beside him, righting herself with her hands pressed between her knees, her uncertainty becoming a hardness, chin tilted up. “Where is my daughter?” she demanded, her voice shaking slightly with fear and worry. 

Their captor, a tall man with dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and sharp blue eyes, put two fingers to his lips and whistled. From a room off to the side, two more men emerged, one a blonde of medium height and the other a tall brunette, one Steve recognized vaguely from a tattoo shop that he’d checked out not that long ago for a case. The edge of a tattoo rose just above his shirt collar and suddenly it was more than familiarity, it was returning to the conversation in his kitchen, the scars on Danny’s arms. His hands curled into fists, but his anger quickly took a backseat to his own worry as his gaze dropped to Grace between the two men, both of them holding her tightly. Her brown eyes were wide and terrified, hair ruffled as if she’d tried to run for it. 

“Let the kid go to her mother. What’s the Brit gonna do, huh? Hurt our feelings by being impolite?” Ponytail flashed a sneer at Rachel, who ignored him in favor of catching her frightened daughter as Grace propelled into her arms, holding on for all she was worth. She ran a hand over her daughter’s hair, smoothing it down, making reassuring shushing sounds in her ear. Grace’s head rest on her shoulder, eyes locking with Steve’s. “So, now that we’re all here, which one of you is hiding the fox, huh?” 

“As if I even knew what you were talking about,” Rachel said softly, shocking Steve with the amount of venom in her tone. With Grace back in her arms, Rachel sat a little straighter, arms wrapped protectively around her daughter. The expression on her face wasn’t quite defiance, but it was the look of a woman who, even when staring down the barrel of a gun, would not back down. Her only wild card, like Steve’s, was the child with them. “Those animals are illegal on this island.” 

Ponytail rolled his eyes and started for her, but Rachel quickly twisted her body, pulling Grace away from his reach. “Hey!” Steve snapped, drawing Ponytail’s attention back to him. “What do you mean, hiding the fox?” At another time, he would have enjoyed the annoyance on Ponytail’s face, however this was not it.

“The fox you might otherwise know as Detective Danny Williams,” Ponytail recited, as if just giving the shifter a name pained him. It told Steve all he needed to know about how they regarded Danny. A loose end that needed to be hunted down and cleaned up before they could make a their final getaway, nothing more. 

“What are you talking a-” Rachel started angrily, but Steve cut him off.

“He’s not here and you chased him away from my place, so the answer is ‘in the wind’,” he replied quickly. Rachel shot him a look, but remained quiet. “And he’s extremely jittery, so good luck finding him even on this island. If he’s gone back to letting his other instincts guide him, he’s going to be a hard shifter to find.” It was as much explanation as he could give to Rachel at the moment. They were too hellbent on answers to allow him to explain otherwise. 

Ponytail pulled the coffee table away, just enough to be out of Steve’s reach or kick radius, and settled himself on the edge, gun still pointed at him. “You know, it took us a while to figure out where he might have gone. We watched this house for a while, thinking he’d go to his kid. Imagine our surprise when we found out he’d gone back to the scene of the crime instead,” he murmured, tilting his head as if the idea amused him. “Did they teach you how to straighten out feral human beings in Navy school, Commander?”

Steve snorted softly. “No, but they did teach me how to remove the spine of a piece of shit like you through your ass. Want to see?” he asked, just as Rachel hissed at him to watch his language in front of Grace. Of all the times to be chided.

Instead of his threat landing, Ponytail threw his head back and let out a booming laugh that made Rachel jump and Grace burrow tighter against her while Steve’s eyebrows shot to the ceiling. That was the laugh of a madman, which was deeply unsettling with the amount of power he currently held. “You could try, McGarrett, but I’ll have your throat torn out before you could even grab my rear.” Ponytail bared his teeth and growled, the sound inhuman, and snapped sharp teeth at Steve. Steve felt his heartrate accelerate slightly as he realized what he was dealing with. Not just run-of-the-mill goons, but shifters too. _Shit._

Ponytail stopped laughing, leaning forward with interest. “Were you expecting something a little more human?” he asked casually. “I eat little humans like you for breakfast and shit your bones before I head to bed.”

“Sounds painful,” Steve deadpanned, forcing himself to appear unaffected. “You might want to think about stripping and chewing instead of snarfing down the entire thing.” 

Ponytail moved faster than any man had a right to, his backhand slamming across Steve’s face so hard that he toppled into Rachel. She valiantly tried to stay upright while Grace shrieked and he fought to sit back up again, blood welling up on his lip. Steve turned his gaze back to Ponytail, his eyes going cold. “I know that you’re the one responsible for most of his scars,” he added, wiping a thumb along his lip, removing the blood. “And believe me, jail is too good for a bastard like you.” A shifter couldn’t go to prison anyway, not with the questions that would arise should they turn into their animal in the middle of the population. 

That suited Steve just fine. Men like this didn’t deserve to breathe the same air the rest of them did. 

The two of them continued to glare at each other until they heard someone clapping off to the side, the blonde finally stepping forward. “Enough. This isn’t getting us off the island any faster,” he snapped at Ponytail, then turned to Steve. “And you may be considered a lethal weapon, Commander McGarrett, but he enjoys cutting people up and tearing them apart as a hobby.” He thumbed in Ponytail’s direction, who beamed at Steve proudly. 

Ponytail had to die. That was all there was to it. “So, if you would give us an idea of where to look, we’ll relieve you of your burden and be on our w-”

“Burden?” Steve’s head snapped around and he rose to his feet suddenly, fists at his side. Ponytail was up on his feet as well, Blondie stepping between them before a fight broke out. “You took a man, chained him up, tortured him and forced him to fight. You broke him and made him so feral that he can barely remember what it’s like to be human, much less who he is,” he snarled, his anger overriding common sense at the moment. “You took him away from his daughter and now you want us to tell you where he is?” He lifted his chin. “You take me. Leave the mother and daughter out of it, they don’t know, but I do. I know what he is and your buddy here can do his worst to me, get his jollies off. Maybe he’ll get an answer. Maybe he’ll break through the harshest training in the world.” His voice had become softer, deadlier. The smirk promised pain and retribution. 

Ponytail leaned forward, peering at him over Blondie’s shoulder. “You see that bite on his side?” The cruel smile revealed sharp teeth. “I got to play with him for a while. Shook him so hard he hit the wall and didn’t wake up for a day.” 

Something in Steve snapped. Maybe it was the vivid image of the fox in the mouth of a creature much bigger than him, fighting for his life only to be hurt for it, maybe it was the idea that Danny wasn’t the only one this man had tortured and broken. Maybe it was just the idea of Danny not deserving anything that had happened to him. His fist balled up and snapped out, his mind several steps behind as the punch launched a flurry of activity, Ponytail slamming him to the ground as Blondie yelled at him, Rachel jumping up from the couch and trying to run with Grace only to be caught by the third man, long forgotten. 

Laid out on the ground, Steve struggled against the stronger man, straining to throw him off. Ponytail sat back, his face changing before Steve’s eyes, teeth growing longer and sharper, eyes becoming more feline. Steve swore under his breath and threw everything he had into bucking the man off. He felt the shifter’s hot breath on his neck when suddenly, he was gone in barely a breeze. A crash followed before Steve could roll onto his side and get an idea of what had just happened.

“ _Danno!_ ” Grace shouted, a hand reaching out for him over Rachel’s shoulder as her mother put her back to the wall, tucking her daughter away from the action. Danny crouched between Steve and Ponytail, hands up imploringly towards the man.

“ _No._ Take,” he said roughly, pointing forcefully at his chest, then shaking a hand at Steve. “No.” Steve reached out to grab the werefox’s arm, but he shook him off, slowly rising to his feet and holding out his hands as if offering them up to be cuffed. “Take,” he echoed again softly, his voice rough. “Leave them.” In the last few days, Danny had begun stringing words together with careful deliberation, but in his desperation, he fell back on the old ways. 

“Danny, don’t.” Steve reached for him again and received a harder smack on the hand, this one making his skin sting. Danny shot him a dark look before he faced Ponytail again. The thug shot a look at Blondie, who shrugged a shoulder and tilted his head in agreement. Just like that, he grabbed hold of Danny’s wrists and tugged him forward, making the other man stumble, eliciting a snarl.

“And take the kid too for insurance,” he snapped out to the third man, silently blocking Rachel’s escape route. Chaos erupted. Danny lunged forward to stop them, but he was slammed backwards onto the floor, the wind leaving his lungs in a rush. Steve pushed up to the floor, but Blondie pinned him back down, while Rachel tried valiantly to keep Grace in her arms. While Steve’s impression of her had always been that she was a bit proper, he could only watch while he struggled as she clawed at the third man’s eyes, turned Mama Bear in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

“You don’t call the police, you stay in the house, we’ll leave the kid somewhere safe and you can come pick her up,” Blondie stated as he motioned for Ponytail, dragging Danny, and the other man, carrying a struggling little hellcat, to the door. Steve climbed to his feet, itching to follow after, hand darting for his weapon. Blondie caught the movement and held up a finger, wagging it. “Sam here will snap the girl’s neck before the weapon clears the holster. You want that on your conscience?” Steve’s hand rose up. “I didn’t think so. Good SEAL.” 

The helpless feeling returned full force as they disappeared out the door and Steve stood motionless. Rachel bent forward, sobs muffled in the hands covering her face. He faintly heard her praying that her little girl would be all right as he shook off his own rusty faith to ask for a little help for Grace and Danny both. 

\--------

An hour later, a dock worker spotted an eight year old child bound and gagged near a crate, her face wet with tears. Once he freed her, she told him that she needed to call HPD, who then alerted her mother. Not long after, Rachel held onto Gracie tightly as Steve stood nearby, staring out at the darkened ocean, expression almost scary to her. He looked so mad. 

As she clung to her mother, she closed her eyes, picturing her Danno again. He was different than she remembered, smaller, rougher, with two different eyes, but he was still the father she loved and adored. She felt safe in his arms as they made him carry her from the car to the boat waiting down by the slip, soaking up every last ounce of warmth and affection as if it might be her last. Even at eight, she knew it possibly could be. She was perceptive for her age, her Danno always said.

He put her down on her feet and as the men tied her up, he caught her attention again. Grace held his gaze, the tears welling in her eyes again. She couldn’t hug him again, no matter how badly she wanted to. They were going to take him away again and it wasn’t fair. 

By the time they finished, he leaned up to press a gentle kiss to her cheek. “Love cub,” he said softly, taking her face in her hands. “Be brave,” he added, fighting back his own tears. Swallowing hard, he turned his face to wipe the tears off on his sleeve, then rose to his feet and kissed her other cheek, hugging her tightly. Grace memorized every moment of it, remembering it as her mother carried her to the police car. Her gaze remained in the direction of the empty slip, watching them take her father away again. Then at the last moment, he pulled against them to turn towards her, as if he remembered something. They tried to pull him the rest of the way to the boat, but he resisted, fought against them. Grace stilled, her eyes going wide. 

And just as they pulled him back, just as they almost had him on the boat, he finally said what she’d wanted to hear.

_”Gracie! Danno loves you!”_


	13. Thirteen

He realized the small shout he heard, the little girl crying out ‘ _Danno_ ’, was neither misheard or a figment of his broken mind in the same moment he realized his pursuers were gone. Danny immediately skidded to a stop and turned sharply, sprinting back the way he came just in time to see the three push into the car with the woman - _Rachel_ \- and the little girl, forcing them to drive away. He tried to keep up with them, running beyond the speed a normal human would be capable of, but it wasn’t enough. The taillights disappeared into the distance as they rounded a corner and he hit his knees, drawing in deep breaths of air as if he couldn’t get enough of it.

Then he was back on his feet and running again, pushing his exhausted, abused body. Over and over, the only thought pattering through his head was that of getting to his cub, his cub who was in danger because of him. If he hadn’t gone that way…

By the time he reached the house, his legs were ready to give, body exhausted. Still, he scaled the wall and hopped down, quietly creeping across the lawn until he reached the house. Steve’s truck was there and for a moment, he held out hope that Steve had taken care of the situation. Instead, as he peered in the window, it looked like he was about to become dead, Rachel and Grace in danger of being taken. Throwing himself into the melee came without a thought, defending people he cared about from the potential of a terrible fate.

Saying good-bye to Grace, letting them leave her there on the pier, was one of the hardest things he’d had to do. There was no way he would have left his cub alone under any other circumstance, but it was either he went with them willingly or they hurt her. He only prayed that Steve would show up soon, Rachel too. Her heartwrenching cries followed him as they dragged him to the boat waiting, rough pushes at his shoulders causing him to stumble forward to the tune of snickers and cruel taunts.

The joke would be on them. Danny had been able to see his cub one last time and say good-bye. Whatever happened now, he had nothing to lose. In the last two weeks, he’d seen just how badly broken he was, the work he had ahead of him with no guarantee that he would ever wear a badge again. One part of two of the most important things in his life, his career and his daughter, and he wasn’t even sure how much of a father he could ever be to Grace again. Nothing to lose, everything to protect. The man who was responsible for the condition he was in now had to be put down and now that Danny had been able to see Grace one last time, make his peace there (not total, never total), he could do just that.

He scrambled up on the deck of the rather large yacht without the rough assistance he knew they would offer, squinting in the darkness as a door opened and Bane stepped out, expression becoming one of fury as he saw Danny standing there. A few short strides and the crack of skin against skin, he hit his knees, spitting blood out onto the deck. Bane hovered over him, reaching down to grab the collar of his shirt and hauling him to his feet. “Do you know what problems you’ve given me, you little rat?” he hissed. Danny’s nose wrinkled up as he caught the strong scent of tobacco on his breath, turning his head away. 

“Not enough,” Danny answered with a grim smile, which earned him a fist to the gut, the wind whooshing out of his lungs as he sunk back to the ground. He lay on the deck, staring up at the night sky, trying to regain his breath while Bane shook out his fist. 

“Romeo, you know what to do with him,” Bane muttered as he turned on his heel and returned to the cabin. Romeo grinned, reaching down to haul Danny to his feet. Danny hung limply in his grasp, feigning weakness.

“You know, we had so much fun last time. I can’t wait to give it another go,” he stated, leaning in. Danny blinked at him, shoulders hunching up. Damn it. Part of him still remembered most of the hell this man put him through, bringing with it fear of the same happening again, and he hated it. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to pull away mentally. This was the moment he needed to take advantage of, to be cold, to be ruthless. He couldn’t risk waiting for a second chance. 

“Please no,” he whispered, pitching his voice so softly that he knew Romeo wouldn’t resist leaning in to hear. He did exactly that, head turning so the ponytail slid off his shoulder, baring a stretch of neck. 

“What was that, rat?” Romeo asked, laughter in his voice. “Hey, guys, this guy ain’t so tough now, is-”

In the blink of an eye, Danny sunk a little farther, feet finding solid footing on the deck before he lunged. He buried sharp teeth into Romeo’s neck, the man howling out in pain, Danny’s knees tightening around his waist to keep his body up. He dug in further, grasping as much as he could. Skin and muscle tore away when he jerked his head back, pushing away from Romeo to land lightly on his feet, spitting the gore out on the deck. Then he was on the move again, pure animal instinct the driving force behind the attack.

He thought of his daughter, her father torn away from her not once, but twice. He thought of Steve, Chin, Kono, Meka, the people who helped him with unending patience, knowing he might never become enough of a person again to be worth their time. His parents, the people he loved who wondered what the hell happened to him. Him. He thought about the six months he lost in being a father, brother, son, cop. Everything torn from him against his will because of these sick people. He thought of the people he’d killed in the ring in the name of survival, shifters just like him who had no choice, the guilt that he would always carry on his shoulders. 

The fury blinded him and he paid no mind as the remaining two men tried to defend themselves, only intent on tearing them apart, making them feel the pain he did. Not that he would be able to make it last as long, but just a second, maybe more. This wasn’t Danny Williams, this was a feral fox who had been abused for reasons it didn’t understand, finally able to turn the tables on his captors. Danny Williams just allowed it to have its way. If he’d had his way, the only difference was the result would have been less bloody.

By the time it was over, the red ebbing from his vision as he sat on the deck cross-legged, blinking in the darkness, there were three dead bodies on the deck with him. Pools of blood dotted the deck here and there, reflecting the moon above them. Danny raised a shaking hand and drew it across his mouth, leaving dark streaks along his arm. The taste of blood was so strong on his tongue and the fox hummed in contentment, but he wasn’t done. There was one more, maybe more if Bane had more people with him below decks. 

There was something he had to do first. 

Reaching into his pants, Danny pulled out the phone he’d lifted at Rachel’s house from the floor. It had fallen out of Steve’s pocket during the fight and he’d managed to be quick enough to slip it not into his pocket, but into the front of his boxer briefs where the pants were the loosest from his weight loss. He would apologize later to Steve if he ever saw him again. With shaking fingers, he skimmed through the contact list until he found the number he was looking for and hit the SEND button. 

Then he tossed it to the deck and rose to his feet, silently loping towards the doorway into the cabin. 

\-------------

“Steve!” Chin elbowed his way into Steve’s office, his phone held aloft. “You’re calling me.” 

“I can’t be calling you, Chin, I lost my - “ Steve blamed the exhaustion for the reason he didn’t immediately latch on to Chin’s meaning. Still, he was out of his chair in a moment, nearly hopping over the desk to grab the phone from Chin’s hand. “Danny? Danny!” he shouted into the phone, putting it onto speakerphone. He received no answer, but he could hear something in the background. Something steady, gentle. It almost reminded him of - 

He thrust the phone back at Chin. “Run a trace on that immediately,” he snapped before pushing past him out into the main office. “Meka, Kono, on me! We’ve got a potential rescue to get ready for!” 

\------------

By the time they reached the yacht, the morning sun had started its ascent above the horizon, bathing the sky and ocean in warm, inviting colors. It would be about the time Steve emerged from the water after a long, intense swim, muscles aching pleasantly. Instead, he stood tense at the front of the boat, gun out and waiting for an answer from the yacht, drifting silently at anchor in front of them. They didn’t respond to any hails and no one could make out anyone moving above deck. Finally, he gave the signal to move on.

Three viciously mauled bodies greeted them as they climbed aboard, Steve’s phone sitting among them. The battery had given out an hour ago but he could still make out the bloody fingerprints all over the screen. “Danny,” Steve murmured quietly, unable to quell the fear that something had happened to him in the middle of all of this. He stuffed the phone in his pocket, then glanced back at his team, motioning for them to fan out. Slowly, necessarily slow and yet too slow for Steve, they cleared the deck and then circled back around to the door.

The last time he saw Danny, the man looked at him with such a look of peace yet resigned defeat that he wasn’t sure he wanted to see what lay down below. It was the thought of what he owed him that drove him forward. Once Chin pulled open the door and nodded to him, Steve stepped forward, light attachment sweeping the darkness ahead of him as he descended the stairs.

He stepped into a madhouse, furniture broken and smashed, glass and paper spread out across the floor. Steve stopped breathing until he saw the familiar pant leg and bare foot sticking out from behind the desk, bulky and heavy enough to remain unmoved. He quickly searched for a light switch, the room suddenly becoming too bright, making the damage all the more real, claw marks, blood. 

“Danny?” he called out, hurrying over to the desk. The detective lay on the ground inches away from Bane. While Bane stared blankly at the wall, neck canted at an unnatural angle, Danny’s shirt was torn to shreds, stained with blood that had dribbled down his body. Shakily, Steve dropped to his knees beside him, praying as his fingers slid against his neck and almost sliding to the floor in relief when he felt the faint pulse under his fingers. It looked like Bane had brought out the claws to tear into Danny in his own defense, but that hadn’t been enough to keep him alive.

Danny was alive, but with the weight of blood loss, not for long. “I need some help!” Steve shouted as Meka finally hit the ground, moving Danny carefully to scoop him up into his arms. “We need to get him to a hospital. _Now._ ”

\--------------

Surgery. Waiting. Recovery.

Steve paced the halls, the waiting room, only stopping when his newly charged phone chimed with updates from the rest of the team. Along with HPD, they’d combed Bane’s office-in-exile, tracking down the rest of his organization, what was left of it from the first raid, to another island. With the assistance of the local police force, they’d moved in and put an end to Bane’s reign of terror once and for all. He had nothing to give them until the surgeon emerged to tell Steve and Rachel, who recently joined him, that Danny came through the surgery and would be just fine. 

He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, Rachel’s hand squeezing his arm tightly as she sunk back into the chair. He sat beside her and pulled her into his arms, the two of them quietly feeling the relief as worry and tension slowly drained from their bodies. It would be a long recovery, not just from the injuries, but he would be alive to try.

Once Danny was moved into his room, they watched after him in shifts. Steve pulled his badge when a nurse came in to remind him that visiting hours were over, instead finding a comfortable position - or what passed in a comfortable position - to try and catch some sleep. The only thing he managed to do was stare at the wall blankly, mind trying to catch up with the events of the last few days. 

He was in the hospital cafeteria, getting a cup of coffee to keep him going, when he received the text from Rachel that Danny was awake - and asking for him. Steve left both the coffee and the money for it laying on the counter and sprinted his way across the hospital, making a not too subtle entrance into the door of the room. Rachel’s eyebrow rose, lips pursing in amusement, while Danny looked his way with a frown. Then, “bad ninja.”

The grin that appeared on Steve’s face stretched ear to ear. “One of my laces came untied, I swear,” he said as he walked over to drop into the chair on Danny’s other side. Rachel squeezed Danny’s hand as she rose to her feet, then she leaned down to kiss his forehead. 

“I’ll go get us those coffees you seemed to have forgotten,” she gently teased Steve, indicating that they should have their time to talk. Danny tracked her across the room until she quietly shut the door behind her, then his gaze went to Steve’s face. It was an odd feeling to have, but Steve felt a flutter in his stomach to see those mismatched eyes open again. In the time he’d known Danny, they had become more him than a normal set of eyes. 

“It’s good to see you awake, buddy. How are you feeling?” Steve asked, leaning on crossed arms on the bed. Danny shrugged a shoulder.

“Hurt. Food suck.” Danny made a face. “Small choice.” 

Steve glanced at the door. “How about I sneak one of those meals I made in here, huh? When I come back.” Danny brightened at that, head ducking in a nod. Steve’s hand caught his, squeezing it tightly before he even processed what he was doing. Danny didn’t yank his hand away. “Bane’s dead,” he added after a beat, knowing that would be what Danny wanted to hear, “and those three goons from the house. His organization has officially been taken down. Was that your plan all along?”

Danny thought about it a moment, then shook his head. “Bane dead. Only thought,” he explained, tapping his temple with his free hand. “Willing to give life - almost dead.” His expression sobered at that thought, then the realization struck. For the first time, Steve saw a brightness in his eyes that had been promised before, but never fully realized. “Free? Free finally?” Danny asked hopefully. 

“Yeah, buddy, free finally,” Steve agreed, giving his hand a squeeze. “You did it. You’re free now.” It wouldn’t be without its own trials and tribulations, but he was free to navigate those without having to look over his shoulder now. He wouldn’t be alone along the way either, not when he had Steve and Grace. Kono. Chin and Meka. Rachel. So many people who cared about him and wanted to help. 

Danny grinned widely and Steve couldn’t help but note that his teeth no longer bore the faint sharpness that was a little out of the ordinary, but normal all the way around. If they could return, then there was hope for Danny’s appearance to one day become entirely normal as he made his way back. His hand shifted in Steve’s and while Steve expected him to pull away, he only did it so he could squeeze Steve’s hand tightly in return.

“Thank you. For helping. Not easy.” 

“Hey,” Steve said sharply, shaking his head. “Don’t go there, man. Helping was never not an option and I kind of got used to having you around, so don’t. I’m just glad this story had a happy ending.” 

“Not yet,” Danny corrected him quietly, his expression losing some of the carefree from before. “Hopefully will.”

\------------

While Danny continued to try and swallow down the hospital meals, Steve guaranteed him one of his special meals a day at the least. After work, he’d take the container from the fridge in his office and sneak it into the hospital, casually chatting about the day while Danny picked through, humming when he bit into a particularly tasty piece of meat or fruit. His color was starting to return and he seemed itching to move, more than the nurses would allow him. The best Steve could do was bring him his post-it notes and markers to continue his quest to reclaim his vocabulary, able to connect mind and mouth again. 

And a pack of cards. He began to look forward to the evening visits where they’d lay the cards out on Danny’s tray and play a game of war that could last for hours, the two of them getting into playful battles over cards and jokingly swatting at each other. Grace would sometimes get involved, though neither of them dared swat at her or battle with her for cards. It was no surprise that she won, but Steve was more than happy to let her. 

Danny’s eye continued to stump his doctors and the specialists they brought in. His vision in that eye still registered as beyond excellent and since there was no impairment, they wrote it off as a strange side effect of his incarceration and rough treatment and recommended he visit an ophthalmologist yearly to make sure nothing changed. His wounds healed steadily, blood work coming back and showing improvements in the damage done by malnutrition that two weeks hadn’t been able to undo. All in all, he was ready to leave the hospital and Steve, after discussing it with Rachel, was ready to have a housemate again. 

Except the world had other plans. 

When he arrived for his regular visit, he found Rachel standing outside the room, arms crossed tightly over her chest. She had the look of someone forced to only observe, not join the proceedings. “Rachel?” Steve called softly, resting a hand on her arm. “Is everything oka-”

“Daniel’s parents are here,” she answered crisply, nodding to the room. Steve peered around the corner to see a blond couple seated on both sides of the bed, the woman hugging Danny tightly and sobbing while the father tried to seem emotionally distant while he gripped his son’s hand tightly. “They’ve made the decision to take him home. To New Jersey.” 

Steve went cold at that news, spinning back to face Rachel. “They can’t - isn’t that your decision to make?” Rachel had been married to him once, which left her the default medical proxy? Or was he wrong? 

Rachel shook her head. “During our divorce, he was angry enough with me to have it legally changed to his sister, the nurse. Her mother managed to convince her that the best place he could be after all this was with them.” 

Shaking his head, Steve leaned back against the doorframe. “They can’t,” he whispered angrily, throwing up his hands. “They don’t know about the - you know. They can’t work with him like we can. He knows us, trusts us. He can be himself around us, which is only going to help him heal.” 

Rachel brushed a thumb under her eye, discreetly flicking away moisture. “Believe me, I realize that and said as much, without letting anything slip that would indicate what we know. However, given that I divorced their son, the family has a rather low opinion of me now. Especially his mother. She’s very much set on it, even when he said as much.” 

The smile Steve gave her was void of absolutely any humor. “None of them trust him to make his own decisions right now, do they? Convenient.” No matter how Danny initially appeared, he was still very intelligent and capable, even with the feral streak he was slowly shaking loose of. It didn’t matter anyway. All their carefully laid plans had butted up against the one thing they weren’t expecting: parental love. 

Defeated, he held the container with Danny’s meal out to her. “Make sure he eats this, all right? He needs the raw meat because of his fox side,” he whispered as he leaned in, “and he loves the fruit, especially the strawberries. It’s better for him than the meals he’s getting right now.” 

Rachel nodded slowly, taking the container from him and then looking up. “Steve, I’m so sorry. I tried. I know that you - you worked so hard to find him and with him to get him this far and - he seems to quite enjoy your company. I really did try.” At the tremble in her voice, he gently tugged her into his arms, hugging her tightly.

“I know, Rachel,” he murmured, then pulled back to look down at her. “He’s come this far in a matter of weeks though, trust me on that. It won’t be long until he’s back to himself. Maybe Jersey will accelerate that a little.” It was a nice thought to keep him from realizing he was going back to an empty house that for a little while, at least, had more life to it. “A few months from now, he might be back on the island.” 

“Of course,” she murmured, though her tone didn’t quite sound all that believing. She sighed and held up the container. “I’ll make sure he eats this,” she added, giving him a shaky smile. “Thank you.”

Steve returned her smile, not quite feeling it himself. He started to enter the room, then stopped and turned to head back down the hall. Interrupting family time, no matter how he felt, wasn’t a good idea. Besides, he had some packing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I played a little loose with medical proxy if only to move the story along. It might not entirely jive and I am 100% responsible for that.


	14. Fourteen

Steve stared at the empty spot on the shelf where the Longboards should have sat, but no longer did when he really could have used them. Muttering under his breath, he shifted the packages of raw meat to the other hand and grabbed another kind from nearby. Passable, but not the same. Still, he needed it bad enough that he wasn’t going to complain too much. 

He’d packed up all Danny’s things before his parents arrived so that it would be easier for them to take the excuse that Steve had them because they’d been researching through his things when the case was reopened. Outside of his team and now Rachel, no one knew that Danny had resided at his place for a little while and he wanted to keep it that way, for the sake of Danny’s privacy. Whatever strides he’d made, it had still been a bad start, and that would lead to too many questions. 

They were kind people. Clara started to cry and thank him, hugging him tightly while Steve awkwardly pat her back. Eddie shook his hand and thanked him more formally, as well as for his service. Feeling even more awkward, Steve blanked out on his carefully planned hints to Danny’s parents about things he learned Danny did well with - and that which he didn’t. Once they left though, the empty feeling fell back on the house and he decided that it wasn’t what he wanted right then. So he called the team and told them to show up at his place for a cookout, celebrating the end of a tough case.

As he stood in line with an arm full of items, his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He dug it out to find that he’d missed a few text messages, from Rachel and Chin, and Chin was now trying to call him. Steve hit the SEND button and held it to his ear. “‘'lo? Everything all right?” he asked, almost praying there was a case somewhere.

“Well, it’s not a matter of life and death, but I thought I would inform you that there is a werefox on your roof that refuses to come down,” Chin informed him dryly, “until he’s allowed to stay in Hawaii.” Steve’s eyes closed slowly and he pinched the bridge of his nose, the corner of his mouth quirking into a tiny smirk. “Take your time getting here. Kono climbed up there with him and she’s keeping him company. He seems to enjoy her company.”

Steve remembered how gentle the rookie had been with him as a fox, how she’d joked with Danny while at the house, like everything was normal, promising to teach him the wonders of surfing when he was up to it. She made him feel like a human being. “That doesn’t surprise me,” he said quietly. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

The text messages from Rachel held a hint of urgency, which he didn’t blame her for after the way things had gone. Danny had disappeared from the hospital while his parents collected his things from Steve’s place and hadn’t shown up at her place, wanting to know if he’d seen him. Steve shot her back a text assuring her that Danny was safe, in good company, and to assure his parents. With a kind word to the elderly couple in front of him, putting on as much charm as possible, he snuck up a few spots and quickly checked out, heading out to his truck.

True to Chin’s words, Danny and Kono were sitting on his roof, hip to hip, Danny burrowed in a pair of shorts and a hoodie, arms tightly wrapped around his body while Kono bumped his shoulder with hers, speaking to him so quietly that Steve couldn’t make out the words. Handing off the bags to Chin, he glared at the roof before he started back inside. “I’m going to have to put a ladder up if people are going to keep climbing up there,” he muttered, though he’d take Danny scurrying up there over and over if it meant he was staying.

By the time he made his way up to the second floor, climbed out a window, and got up on the roof, Danny had relaxed slightly, leaning into Kono. “You worried a few people, buddy. I know you’re used to taking off on your own, but people know you’re around now,” Steve said gently. Kono wound an arm around Danny’s shoulders, gave him a kiss on the hood-covered temple, then got up for Steve to take her place. He reached out to squeeze her arm as she passed and she gave him a quick smile before lithely climbing down. 

Danny peered up at him from under the hood. “I d-don’t want to go,” he said, choosing his words carefully, as if forming the full sentences would be more convincing, no matter how much trouble it gave, “and no one a-a-asked.” He stumbled over the last words, then scrubbed his hands over his face in frustration. Steve lowered himself to sit beside Danny. 

“Their hearts are in the right place, Danny. They thought you were dead, you’re alive but a little worse for wear, it’s only parental instinct to want to take care of their s-” Steve started, but Danny stabbed at his own chest with a finger.  
“Father,” he stated firmly. “Know that, Steve. Know that.” He scowled and pulled his knees up. “They think I’m broken. Am broken. Still think for self,” he added softly. “And I want here. Hawaii.” He wiggled his bare toes against the roof and then pressed against Steve, Steve’s arm automatically sliding around him. 

“Okay, buddy,” he said softly, looking out to the ocean. “If you want to stay here in Hawaii, we’ll see what we can do to make that happen. You still want to stay with me?” 

“If you will have,” Danny muttered, suddenly pulling away from him, picking at one of the cuffs on the hoodie. For the first time, Steve realized it was one of his Navy hoodies, meaning Danny’s escape most likely meant he’d found his way to Steve’s house in a hospital gown and boxers. Despite the situation, he started to laugh and then coughed, rubbing a hand against his mouth. Danny shot him a look, both anxious and guarded. 

“No, it’s not bad,” Steve said quickly, holding up a hand. “I’m just, uh, picturing you running across Honolulu with your ass hanging out of a hospital gown, Danny. I know the food was terrible but that’s a little extreme, you know?” That finally won a smile from Danny, faint but there before he ducked his head again. “Yes, Danny, I will definitely have, okay? I came with you this far in the recovery, I want to help you go all the way. So do Meka, Chin, Kono.” He dropped a hand on Danny’s shoulder and squeezed. “Ohana. You’re with us now.” 

Instead of repeating the word, Danny’s hand moved, the cuff falling back as his fingers sketched in the air. Steve could only assume he was spelling the word out, committing it to memory. “That’s right, you got it,” he assured him. “Now, how about we climb down, call your parents to reassure them that you’re okay, then get something to eat?” 

\---------------

_Six Months Later_

A few feet down the hall from the HPD psychologist’s office, Danny made sure he was alone before he leaned back against the wall and started to laugh, a relieved, nervous laugh that had been building since the moment she asked the last question and then signed the papers that said he was fit for duty again. One of the biggest steps in his recovery towards having what resembled a normal life again. 

It’d been a fucking long haul to get there. Once his parents reluctantly allowed him to stay behind in Hawaii, with Gracie and in Steve’s care with the reassurance that he would check in regularly, the real hard work began. Morning runs with Steve, spending the day working on his verbal skills, words sparking, reappearing, beginning to weave back together in full sentences. Books disappeared from the shelf in Steve’s father’s old office and ended up in his room, printed sheets of police procedure as a reminder, a refresher course. Anything he could get his hands on. Evenings, once Steve came home, belonged to strength training and dinner, getting Danny back into the rhythm of normal meals. 

By month three, he relearned how to drive. The fourth, Steve took him to the shooting range and it didn’t take him long to regain his ability to use the sidearm. The steps in the right direction didn’t come without their fair share of frustrations or steps backwards. On those days, Steve kept him from turning the frustration on himself, talking him down quietly. Some behaviors weren’t so easy to unlearn, some memories impossible to forget. There were nights where he tossed and turned, back in the cages, the rings, the fight. The feeling of exhilaration and panic creating a terror that translated into reality, waking up with Steve’s arms around him, trying to calm him down. 

Full moons were still a little rough. His refusal to change came with his body turning on him until he did so, ending up in a furry, shaking, exhausted pile. Then Steve would ask permission and scoop him up, curling up on the couch to stroke his fur and turn on a game, normalcy outside of the fact that Danny was a fox for the moment. Danny grew used to falling asleep against his chest, waking up on the other side of the bed in the mornings, Steve’s side already empty where he’d gone out for his swim. 

The one thing that didn’t change, no matter how many times he shifted, no matter how hard he focused, was his damn eye. It continued to be a visible sign of what he’d undergone, something that made him hesitate to be out in crowds where anyone could notice and react. 

He was ready though. Steve hemmed slightly when Danny told him he’d made the appointment, saying that he was welcome to take as much time as he needed and he should consider it, but Danny waved him off. He couldn’t wait any longer and his gut was telling him it was now or never. If he didn’t jump soon, he’d let his mind talk him out of it for this reason or that. He needed it, needed to be a cop again. It seemed that the psychologist agreed. 

Once the laughter subsided, he headed down the hallway, pulling the keys from his pocket as he pushed open the door to head out into the parking lot. His pace slowed, however, when he saw the scene waiting for him. 

Gathered around the back end of his Camaro, Steve, Chin, Kono, and Meka waited, watching. The moment Danny emerged, they all stopped their conversation while Steve jogged up to him. “So?” he asked, sounding almost excited. 

Danny glanced past his shoulder, then tilted his head to peer up at Steve. “I guess I’m not so crazy after all,” he replied, grinning and holding up a hand. Steve mirrored the grin, grabbing the hand and pulling him into a big hug, damn near sweeping Danny off his feet. 

“Good. Otherwise, my pulling a few strings to make this happen might have been a little awkward,” Steve stated after letting him go, reaching into one of his pockets to pull out a badge. Danny stared at it, trying to wrap his mind around it, before his gaze flickered back to Steve’s.

“No, uh uh. Five-0 is an elite taskforce and the last thing you need is some cop trying to get back on his feet. You don’t even know how I’m going to work out in the field right now.” He stepped back, shaking his head and waving his hands. “Sure, they said I could work again, but I’m pretty sure she was thinking desk duty with a lot of paperwork. Boring paperwork.” 

“We have boring paperwork. A lot of boring paperwork,” Steve replied dryly. “I wasn’t going to throw you into the deep end immediately, Danny. It only makes sense that we helped you find your feet again as a human, now we can help you find your feet again as a cop. I know you’ve been studying, buddy. I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked to get this far. That’s exactly the kind of person I need on my team.”

Struggling to find a reason to say no, Danny pointed past Steve. “And how do they feel about it, huh? It’s their backs I’ll be at. They deserve a say in this to-” 

“Just say yes!” Kono shouted from where she perched on the back end of the Camaro, cupping her hands around her mouth. “He likes to think he’s a benevolent dictator, but this is just as much our decision as his!” She grinned and lifted a hand to wiggle her fingers as Steve turned to glare at her. 

Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Fine. Yes. With the exception that, should I feel I am being kept because of bias or something of the sort, I can remove myself. I’ll find a job as a security guard or something. Or you’ll remove me if you think that I can’t hack it. Deal?” He stuck out his hand, which Steve wasted no time in grabbing, shaking it hard twice before he tugged him forward to hook the badge on his belt. 

Sliding an arm around his shoulders, Steve swung him around to face the others. “Everybody, the newest member of Five-0! Break out the malasadas!” 

\-------------

_One Year After_

As much as he tried to deny it, ignore it, Danny was all too aware of the approaching anniversary. The day that HPD and Five-0 raid Bane’s ship and unintentionally set him free, setting him on the path to regaining his life. It was a bittersweet anniversary, a reminder that some things had irrevocably changed while he’d come so close to regaining normalcy in others. Danny ran a hand over his face, staring up at the moon. It would be full in a few days, another night spent as a furball. He wasn’t holding out hope that someday there would be a cure, but being able to make peace with it would be nice. 

The sound of sloshing water drew his attention back to the shore of Steve’s private beach where the man himself emerged from the water like some kind of nautical god, a smile breaking on his face as he spotted Danny settled in one of the chairs, a pack of beers between them. It’d been a few months since he’d moved out to find a place of his own, citing he needed the illusion of independence to feel like he still could be. It was lonely, even when he spent most of the day with the Five-0 team, his family. Grace on the weekends. Steve. “Hey. What brings you around?” 

Danny rose to his feet, setting the empty bottle on the small table before he padded towards Steve. “I, uh, I’m - “ He moved his hands half-heartedly. “I was just thinking - “ Had he had this much trouble putting into words what he was thinking before or was it just the situation? “About you. I was thinking about you and us.”

“Us?” Steve’s brow furrowed and his body seemed to tense. Danny could hear his heartbeat kick up a notch faintly and he scowled, scrubbing his hands over his face again before pushing one through his hair, staring at the ground as he kicked at the grass with his bare foot.

“You, me. I like you. Like you in a way that I’m fairly certain that you probably don’t reciprocate and I get that, really I do. I don’t know why I’m telling you other than I feel you should be aware of it because - “ He sighed and held out his hands. “You’re my best friend and at this point, there’s nothing you don’t know about me, more than my own parents, anyone I’ve called friend before. Since day one, you haven’t stopped trying to help me and I can’t thank you enough. This isn’t some obligation thing, it’s honest to god, I’m stupid in love with you, you - “ 

Steve’s fingers slipped into the belt loops on his jeans and tugged him forward, one hand slipping behind his neck. The next thing Danny knew, there were a set of slightly salty lips on his, the kiss light and testing. The surprise made his body go rigid at first, then he slowly eased against him, hands resting on Steve’s damp hips. It was brief and slightly awkward, but when Steve pulled back, his lips twisted in a faint smirk of amusement. 

“First time kissing a guy. That’s a little strange. Did you decide not to shave today?” he asked, running a thumb over Danny’s lips. Danny laughed quietly and pressed a kiss against the thumb pad, then ducked his head to rub his cheek against Steve’s palm, faintly reminiscent of that first day as a human again in his bedroom, one year ago. He closed his eyes, inhaling his scent, then felt Steve tug him into a tight hug. His arms slid around Steve, holding him tight as well. 

“Of all the fighting rings in all the world, you had to barge into mine,” Danny murmured quietly, Steve making a deep, throaty chuckle that vibrated through his chest and against Danny’s ear. “Funny how that works out, huh?” 

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. It gave me my foxy partner with the unique eye,” Steve replied, pulling away just to slide an arm around his shoulder and grabbing the pack of Longboards with his free hand. “So what do you say we talk about this a little more, then try that kissing thing again?” 

Danny snorted. “Sounds great, Tall, Dark, and Lethal. Sounds great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And therein ends the tale finally. Thank you so much for reading and your kudos and comments. They were greatly appreciated in getting this story told and done.


End file.
